No Safe Place
by Dallyforever101
Summary: What would you do, if your leader, best friend, first crush and only boyfriend got shot for reasons that weren't his fault? Wreck havoc on anyone that stands in your way of revenge of course. Rated for what will happen later in the story.
1. Chapter 1: Wishing for you

A/N: HELLO! This is my first attempt at a multiple chapter story. I want at least one good review before I post the next chapter. You may also notice a slight similarity to Over the Edge, which was Matt Dillon's first movie! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the outsiders or Over the Edge.

XXX

The evening sky glowed golden as I walked down the sidewalk. The air was chilling off and I wished I'd grabbed my jacket from the closet at Buck's, but then again, I was glad I didn't. The air felt like millions of ting knives pricking at my arms, and for some reason this made me smile. It was the most set in stone feeling I'd had in 3 days.  
I shook my head to get rid of my thoughts, I still didn't like thinking about them, it would be awhile still before it didn't hurt.  
As the Curtis brother's house came into view, I took a deep breath.  
For the past 3 days, I'd been at Buck's place, trying to sleep off the hangover I'd acquired the night everything went to hell. But I'd woken up at lunch time today and been able to get out of bed for more then just reaching for a beer bottle.  
As I climbed the steps, I could see 2 boys watching TV in the living room.  
I opened the door and stepped in, rubbing my arms to get them warm again.  
"Hello?" I poked my head into the room and looked around. Besides the odd thing here and there, nothing had changed. Then again, what had I expected? A home renovation just because I'd been gone a few days? Not a chance! This place hadn't changed since before Mr. and Mrs. Curtis died.  
"Mia?" I came out of my thoughts to see Two- Bit looking up at me from his place in the chair. "Where've ya been the past couple'a days?" I shrugged and sat down beside Steve on the couch.  
"Drank a little then slept it off." I said simply. "Besides that nothin'."  
"Must'a been some hangover to have needed 3 days to sleep off." Steve said without taking his eyes off the TV screen.  
For the first time in days, I focused on what was going on. Buck had, had the small TV behind the bar going all the time, set on the news. I'd had no interest in what was being said about that night. I'd been there, seen it first hand, I didn't need anyone else point of view on the matter; especially if it was the cops talking.  
But tonight, I watched with full attention. The weather woman had just finished, and it was now focused on another woman standing in the lot.

"They were there earlier today." Two- Bit said as if he had read my mind. I shushed him as the lady started talking into the camera.

"I'm here in Tulsa, Oklahoma at a vacant lot where a young man had been gunned down by police 3 days ago. 18 year old, Dallas Winston robbed a local convenience store at approximately 11 o'clock pm Saturday night. Local police chased after him until he stopped here and drew a gun. The police told him to drop the gun, or they would shot

"We yelled for him to stop and drop the gun." I recognized the cop talking, he was always around when Dally and I got hauled in. "But he wouldn't' listen. We had no choice but to open fire." I snorted. They had certainly tried hard to get him to drop it. "It was released today that that Mr. Winston took 7 shots, all to the chest. Police have also released that they'd discovered that the gun was not loaded at the time of the shooting. Dallas Winston was pronounced dead at the scene. I'm Sandra Smith reporting from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Have a good evening." The TV screen went black and I looked over to see that Two- Bit had shut it off, but was still starring at the screen.

"7 shots…" I looked over at Steve who was also starring at the black screen.

"You didn't know that already?" I asked. They both shook their heads.

"We went down yesterday. Just Steve and me, to see if we could get anything out of them." Two- Bit said. "But they wouldn't tell us anything. They said that only parents, other family members and wives get the stuff." I snorted.

"Dally's parents don't care, you guys were his family and wife, puss, wasn't going to EVER happen." Two- Bit's face only managed to smile a little.

"We said that to'em. But they still wouldn't tell us anything. But they did say that you could get it. Girlfriend's are apparently under the _wives_ category." Steve said as he stood up and stretched. "I gotta go. I need some sleep. You stickin' around, Mia?" I nodded my head.

"Yea, I want to see the others. Might just spend the night, too. I don't feel like going back to Buck's tonight." Steve nodded.

"Comin', Two- Bit?" He asked as he walked to the door.

"Yea." Two- Bit got up from his spot in the chair and grabbed his jacket off the back of it. "See ya tomorrow, Mia." He called as he walked out of the living room.

"Later, Two." I called back as I sat on the couch. I watched the boys leave and turned back to stare at the TV. 7 bullets. I smirked. Dally'd always liked the number 7.


	2. Chapter 2: Just waitin'

_A/N: Hello again. Thanks to the people who left comments, they were lovely review. I'm a huge fan of Dally, too. He was my favorite right from the start. :)  
So this is my first try at a multiple chapter story with an OC character. I've written a lot of stories in scribblers with her as a character. If I write more stories like this, she'll be the OC character. Just thought I'd put that out for anyone who doesn't like OC stories. If I get good comments about Mia in this story, I'll probably write more short ones with her in them. Also, this should have all been explained before the first chapter. :p oops! I was in a bit of a rush when I posted it. Anyway, enjoy!_

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders. But I do own Mia.  
  
XXX

I sat on the couch for a minute longer, starring at the blank screen in front of me. I could see it all again; Johnny dying in the hospital bed, Dally running out, getting Ponyboy back to the house only to run out the door again and watch Dally get shot by the cops. I could still hear his last words to us as he laid there on the ground, dying at our feet, "Never stop fighting for what you believe is right." I'd been kneeling beside him, and I saw his eyes watching me as he took his last breath. I'd gripped his hand and watched his life slip away.  
I wish it hadn't happened, but it had and there was nothing I could do about it.  
I sighed and got up from the couch. Walking up the stairs, I couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about seeing the 3- or more like 2- brothers.  
See, when Dally ran out of the hospital, my first thought was to follow him, but I saw Ponyboy standing beside Johnny's bed, and I couldn't just leave him there alone. We stayed a minute longer before I got him out of the hospital. Dally had taken the car, so we were stuck walking down the sidewalk. I hadn't really been paying attention to where Pony was, I was looking around frantically in hopes that I'd see Dally walking towards me; that sly look on his face and his hands stuffed in his pockets while a cigarette hung from his lips. Gosh I'd have given anything to see that sight that night. Anything at all.  
It wasn't until I'd thought that I'd completely lost Ponyboy that I turned around to see him talking to a man in a car. I'd walked over and willingly accepted his offer to take us home. I had just climbed into the backseat behind Ponyboy and closed my eyes when the man said, "I hate to tell ya kids," I opened my eyes against the protesting pounding in my head not to. "But you're getting blood on my car." I look down at myself; my arm had a bite mark on it, my leg had a few gashes running along them. I figured my face had a few marks too, cause I could feel a small trickle of something wet running down the side of my face from above my eye.  
"I'm sorry, Mister." Ponyboy said.  
"Don't worry about it, kid." The man said. "I'm not about to leave injured kids out on the street. What's your address? I'll take you home." Ponyboy told him and he drove us to the house.  
I remember what was left of the gang being there, tending to their cuts and bruises from the fight. In my head I couldn't help but laugh. Little did they know that they were all about to get hit with a punch that would leave a wound that was never going to heal.  
I watched from the doorway as Ponyboy told them about what had happened; about Johnny being dead and Dally running away. He was talking fast, panicky if you know what I mean. Then the phone rang and Darry picked it up.  
When he was done, he said it was Dally and that the cops were after him. He was going to met us in the lot.  
I was the first one out the door. I should have known Dallas couldn't take it, why hadn't I followed him, tried to put some sense into his head? But as we ran for the lot, and watched Dally get shot, I knew even had I followed him, there was nothing in this world that would have kept him here. Not even me. The only person was Johnny, and he wasn't here anymore.  
I stood outside the bedroom door for a moment; I pushed the tears back as best I could. But a few still silently rolled down my face.  
I felt bad for not getting Ponyboy home on my own. Darry had always trusted me to look after his brother when he couldn't, and normally I did my job well. But this time I felt like I'd done the opposite, even if I had made it to the house that night with him beside me. I took a deep breath and stepped into the room.  
It was dead quiet in there; Darry was sitting in a chair that they must have brought up to sit in and Soda was sitting on the bed beside Ponyboy who had his head wrapped up in bandages. The room was a mess, too. Even though it'd only been 3 days, the newspapers were all over the floor, along with magazines, books and clothes.  
"Haven't kept up with the house work I see." I said as I stood just inside the doorway. Darry and Soda both looked up at me.  
"Mia?" Darry sounded surprised to see me as he stood up from the chair and put the paper he was reading down. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked over to me. I just looked up at him for a moment before letting a smile come across my face.  
"I thought you might want some help around the house." I said and pretended to look around the room skeptically. "Can even go 3 days without me?" Darry gave me a smile.  
"We normally gave a few weeks to clean up before you come 'round again." I smirked. Of course he would mention my time in jail. Not like I was in there all the time, quite the opposite. But the police sometimes caught me helping Dally get away. So I get pulled in with him- or used to anyway.  
"Not so lucky this time, now were you?" I watched the smile turn down a little and his eyes grew sad.  
"I am lucky." He said and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. "I am very lucky." I stood still for a moment before I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him. Tears seeped from my eyes and I let my head fall against Darry's chest. Even 3 days without Dally had felt like an eternity to me. When you have someone to pull you around since you were young, you don't just jump back into life when they leave, no matter how strong they told you to be.  
"I'm lucky too." I whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you guys around." I smiled as I pulled away from Darry and used the palms of my hands to wipe the tears away. "I'd go crazy on my own."  
"I don't think you would." I turned to look at Soda who was still sitting beside his brother. "You're too strong for that, Mia." The corner of my mouth turned up as I walked over and sat beside him.  
"Looks can be deceiving, Soda." I said as I sat cross legged at the end of the bed. "How is he?" I looked at Soda then at Darry. "He's going to be OK, right?" They both nodded.  
"The doc said that he'd be fine." Darry said. "He's just going to need rest." I nodded and looked around the room again. I hadn't noticed when I first came in, but there were plates of food on the desk and dresser.  
"You guys ain't very clean." I said. I raised an eyebrow at Soda who shrugged and yawn.  
"Haven't had time." He said. I watched his eyes flutter closed for a second before they opened again.  
"You boys need some sleep." I said. "Get to bed. I'll look after him for a while." They both started to protest but I held up a hand. "Don't bother. I've slept for 3 days now. I can last a while, well you get some sleep. If you want I'll get you some food too if you want." Darry looked at me for a minute, seeming to wonder whether to pick a fight or not. In the end, he decided not to and got up from the chair.  
"OK. But only for a few hours." I nodded and turned to Soda who put his hands up in surrender.  
"I'll be down on the couch if you need anything." He said as he left the room, looking back over his shoulder once at his younger brother before going down the stairs.  
I sat on the bed for a moment longer before moving up to sit closer to Ponyboy. I ran my fingers gently across his face.  
"I'm so sorry, Pony." I whispered. "It's all my fault." I left my head fall beside his for a moment before sitting back up and moving to the chair. I picked up the newspaper and turned to the Classified ads, it was time to get a job. Yuck!

XXX

_Chapter #2! Hope it's good. I know it was kind of slow, but this just like one of those fill in chapters. It's just to keep the story moving. I don't know how often I'll post, whenever I can I guess. School work always comes first. :p oh well, only a few more years.  
Anyway, hope you stick around._

~Stay Gold


	3. Chapter 3: Missing you

A/N: _Here's chapter 3 for all of you wonderful people! :) Nice comments really make my day.  
But I have something to say to Anon. For all of you reading this message (and I hope whoever this person is that reviewed my story is) this person is a "guest" so I couldn't message him/her back directly. That's why I'm putting it in my note. I'd rather say it in private to this person but that isn't possible; this is also easier for me as well. Anyway, Anon... I'm not dumb. I know Dally getting shot was his own fault, and that he held up a store. I do have a brain to realize that this act was illegal. Also… this may come as a shock to you… but I've read the book. *gasp!* And, even more of a shock… I've watched the movie too. Both versions! :O *double gasp!* I know who Sylvia is, and I know she and Dally had been dating before the book, because if you haven't read it, they're not together in the book- or it's not implicated that they are- and in the movie if you look at Matt Dillon's hand you can see his ring. Another thing, there is something called "being involved". Mia would get hauled in if she was involved in anyway with whatever Dallas was doing that was against the law. Even if she was just standing outside as a lookout. If she ran away with him when he'd done whatever, the police are more then likely going to take her in as well. Does that make any sense to you? If not, PM me and we can have a private conversation about this matter. :) By the way, last time I remember, this site was made for people who had different ideas about stories. That includes how different, original characters could change or add to the story. If ya don't like, then don't read. That's all I'm saying.  
Anyway, sorry about the little rant. I don't mind criticism. But don't expect me to not put my point out there if you make just a plain rude comment. And for those of you who like Mia, I'm trying to decide if I should write up a description of her on my profile. If you could leave a comment saying yes or no and way you would/wouldn't want me to, that would really help me out. I'll give it 2-3 weeks before I make a decision._

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders. I wish I did but I don't. :( I do own Mia though.

XXX

I know I told Darry I'd wake him up in a few hours, but they were both sleeping so soundly. I didn't have the heart to wake them up.  
I yawned and rubbed at my eyes. I didn't understand why I was so tired; I'd been sleeping for the past few days. Shouldn't I feel wide awake? I sighed and looked at Ponyboy. He didn't move very much in his sleep, but he did talk a lot. He kept calling out for Sodapop and Darry, sometimes his parents. I've heard him called out for Johnny and Daly a few times, even called out for me once. That's just in the past few hours. I wonder what he's thinking about?  
Suddenly the alarm clock beside the bed started beeping loudly and I launched myself from the chair to shut it off. I slammed my hand down on the snooze button and listen to the silence of the house for a minute, and huff. I heard the squeak of bed springs across the hall.  
"Mia, I said a few hours." Darry's voice drifted from his room.  
"It has been a few hours." I called back to him as I crawled back to the chair.  
"No, Mia." Darry said as he came into the room pulling a shirt over his head. "A few hours is 2-3. It's been almost 6." I gave him a fake guilty smile.  
"You both looked so cute while you slept, I didn't have the heart to wake up." I fluttered my eyelashes at him, but it didn't work. Cute doesn't work with me.  
"Cute doesn't work with you, Mia." Darry spoke my thoughts out loud. "I don't know why you bother trying."  
"'Cause it worked when I was younger." I said as I moved from the chair so Darry could sit down.  
"You're not little anymore, girly." Darry said with a light smile. "Don't bother." I rolled my eyes and walked to the door.  
"It'll work again someday." I said with a fake determined look on my face. Darry chuckled and picked up the old paper, looked at it for a minute then put it down again. He made to stand up but I shoved him back into the seat. "I'll get the paper for you. I'll make you some breakfast to go with it." I walked back to the door way. "I'll get Soda up for work while I'm at it."  
"Thanks, Mia." Darry said as he turned to watch his little brother. I smiled and jogged down the stairs and into the living room. Soda was lying on his stomach on the couch. I smirked. He must have been really tired. He had started to take off his socks, but appeared to have only gotten halfway down; no was off and the other was pulled down to his ankle. I wished I'd had a camera; he was half falling off the couch.  
I sighed and moved closer to shake his shoulder.  
"Wake up, Sodapop." I said. "Time to get up and get ready for another day full of fun." I giggled when he rolled over and fell of the couch; laughing when he stayed there. "Come on, Soda." I said as I linked my arms under his and pulled him to his feet. "You got to get ready for work." I looked at his face. "Looks like you need to shave too. Come on and get up." Soda just mumbled and slumped in my arms. I huffed as I tried to get him to his feet. Not like he was super heavy or anything, but I wasn't in the best of shape from my 3 days out of it, plus I only weighed 127 last time I was on a scale. Soda had to be close to 160. He wasn't fat at all, but muscles weigh something, ya know.  
"OK, Soda." I said. "You can sleep a little longer." He mumbled something that I couldn't make out but kept on sleeping. I smirked and dragged him to the bathroom. I managed to put him in the tub before finding a bucket that Darry normally used when he mopped the floor. I filled it with cold water from the tap and dumped it over Soda's head.  
I watched as his eyes popped open and he jumped out of the tub.  
"Damn that's cold!" He cried as he looked down at his dripping clothes. When he looked at me I just raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Next time get up when I tell you to, smarty." I said as I left him in the bathroom to get Darry the paper and make some breakfast.  
By the time I had gotten Darry his paper, and gone back into the kitchen to make breakfast for the boys, I could hear the water running in the shower. I smiled to myself. Nothing like cold water dumped on you to wake you up. Dally had done that once to me when I hadn't woken up one morning when we'd been planning on going somewhere for the day. It had always been a rare thing for Dally to take me anywhere other then over to the Dingo for a meal, and even those had been rare.  
So he pulled me out of bed and dragged me into the bathroom across the hall and dropped me into the bathtub. That had woken me up, but he'd decided he wanted to make sure I was extra wake and turned the shower on freezing cold. It'd been winter at the time, too. I would have shoved his head under the water too, but you don't do something like that to someone like Dallas Winston. Unless you want your head to go through the dry wall..

AS I stood by the toaster and waited for it to pop, I heard the creak of someone coming down the stairs.  
"Soda, you're going to cut your neck!" I turned just as the toast popped and walked to the bathroom. Soda was almost asleep against the mirror and his razor was slowly sliding down his throat. I carefully grabbed the sharp object and placed it down on the countertop.  
"OK, Soda. No work for you today, you'll get your head stuck under the hood of a car or something." He opened his eyes to look at me for a minute before flopping into my arms. I almost fell to the floor from the dramatic increase in weight.  
"He needs some sleep." I said. Darry nodded and took him up the stairs.  
"I'll put him in my room to sleep for a while." He said. I sighed as I returned to the kitchen to finish breakfast.  
Just as I was about to take food up to Darry, I heard the door open and slam shut. I knew who it was before he even came tumbling into the kitchen at top speed, nearly knocking the plates of food from my hands.  
"Watch it, Two- Bit." I said warningly as I managed to regain my balance. "You'll clean up the mess if these fall." He gave me a wide grin as he took a beer from the fridge.  
"They'll never fall." He said. "You spent too long working down at the Dingo." I scowled as I left the room. I hated working there; all those guys who thought they were so cool. Anyone who thinks wrapping a girl up just to see if they could get up her skirt was repulsive. I quit the first time it ever happened to me. I wasn't going to stand around and wait for someone to make a rule against it; they'd never make rules around that place that were enforced. Following Greaser rules was one thing, 'cause if you didn't, life wasn't going to be easy on you until you learned how. Following small rules for places were harder to enforce. Greasers go by their own rules, not everyone else's.  
I saw Steve sitting in the living room in front of the TV that was now turned to Mickey Mouse. He nodded at me as I walked past the door way and up the stairs. I walked into the room and placed the food on the desk.  
"Please eat it, Darry." I said. "You're not looking too good." He didn't look up from his paper but nodded his head. I sighed and rolled my eyes, something about his lack of interest told me I was coming back up to get this plate, still full of food.  
Just then I heard a knock on the door and jogged down the stairs to answer it.  
"Don't touch that Two." I said as I walked past the kitchen where I could see Two- Bit heading for the eggs and bacon I had set on a plate for Soda. "That ain't for you. If you want some wait a minute." I heard Two- Bit groan that he was hungry and rolled my eyes as I opened the door.  
"Hello-" My eyes widened at who was standing in the doorway. I felt the corners of my mouth turn up in a smirk. "Figured you'd come looking for me. Got tired of me not showing up, huh?"

XXX

Hope you liked the chapter!

**Edited: **So I haven't really gotten any reviews on this story. If you're reading this story and liking it, can you leave me a message saying so, please. I won't be posting any more chapters until I have at least 2-3 reviews. I would really, _really_ appreciate it. Thanks!

~ Stay Gold


	4. Chapter 4: Finish this

A/N: Unfortunately I've lost my attention on this story. Plus I wasn't getting enough feedback to feel like anyone was really interested in the story. So for now, this is going to be a short ending. If anyone is interested in me continuing this story, I'll be more then willing to. But now I have another story that actually needs to be finished first (more of a back story then I was going to put in this one). This story may make more sense if you read that first.  
So for now, this is the end of this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.

XXX

The police standing in the doorway just starred at me.  
"We're sorry to interrupt your morning, ma'am." One officer said. I shrugged.  
"You ain't interrupting much." I said. "What can I do for you?" The fatter of the two officers handed me a clear bag that they normally used for evidence at a crime scene.  
"As you are the only one with any, hum, direct contact with Dallas Winston, you are the only one authorized to get his belongings." I opened the bag and looked at the clutter of stuff inside it. There was Dally's old switchblade, his lighter, a half empty pack of cigarettes, Two- Bit's switch, his wallet and the chain that he'd always worn around his neck. His mother had given it to him before she died after a hit and run on the busy New York streets. That had been a crappy month for the two of us, 'cause my ma had just died- coincidentally- almost the exact same way. Just a different car drove by. But that was another story.  
"We're sorry for your loss, Ms. Baker." I looked up at the officers and laughed.  
"Go to hell." I said. "You don't care that Dallas is dead. You're probably happy that he's dead. No more trouble. For people who are meant to keep the peace, you really suck at your job. 3 kids dead in a week." I shook my head and started to walk away, but turned back around when the smaller officer spoke.  
"He was trouble. I'm glad he's dead, 'cause now maybe some kids who have always been trouble will stop and think, like you." I slowly turned around and pushed open the screen door. Getting right up it the guys face, I spat angrily, "This isn't going to stop anyone. You've only lit a fire that's going to get out of control. Don't even bother thinking that you've stopped anything, 'cause if I have anything to do with it, I'm going to make your life a living hell." With that, I turned and walked back into the house, letting the screen door slam shut, followed by the inside door.  
I was going make them cops wish they were never born, just wait.

XXX

So that's it for now. I know it's short, but if I'd written anymore, I wouldn't be able to stop.  
So I hope that maybe I'll get some good reviews for this story and be asked to continue.  
Bye for now.

~Stay Gold


	5. Chapter 5: Something to look foward to

A/N: I decided I would continue this story. I finally got that review I wanted so bad! :) Thanks to damonadark-hunterfan69 for the nice review. I have a really good idea for this story, but I wasn't all that willing to continue if I didn't get any feedback on how I was doing with it. So thank you very much! J  
I really don't know if I'll post on a regular bases. Probably whenever I have the time.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders (still wishing I did though).

XXX

I sigh as I look through my tiny closet for something to wear to Dally and Johnny's funeral. It was tomorrow and I really didn't want to go, but I had no choice.  
"What the hell am I supposed to wear?" I asked the empty room.  
"Something cute." I turned to see Buck leaning against the doorframe, smirking like a fool at me. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my clothes.  
"Go away, Buck." I said. I started pushing clothes aside then pushing them back again. "I'm really not in the mood to talk right now."  
"You're never in the mood to talk these days." I rolled my eyes.  
"Make a good guess why." I couldn't keep the annoyance from my voice. I pulled a black strapless dress from the closet and help it up in front of the full length mirror.  
A weak smile crossed my face. I remembered why I'd bought the dress; Dally. I'd bugged him into taking me somewhere half decent for dinner. He'd rolled his eyes but agreed. I'd gone out the next day and bought the dress. He'd all but started drooling when I walked down the stairs. The thought made me feel like crying, but I held them back. For whatever reason, I was holding it all in for the funeral tomorrow.  
"What's got you going now there sweet thing?" Buck's voice crawled through my head and I looked in the mirror to see him standing behind me, looking at me through the reflective glass.  
I searched for any signs that would tell me that he was drunk and just saying stuff, but he seemed as sober as he was ever going to get. I sighed and looked away from the mirror as I turned back to the closet to continue searching for something to wear.  
"Nothing, Buck." I said as I tossed the dress onto to the bed; it would be a last minute pick. It had too many good memories circling around it to want to wear it to something that would take them all away.  
"It's never nothing." Buck said. "You always have something swirling in that thick head of yours." I turned around and glared at him.  
"I am not thick headed!" I hissed at him. "If anything, it's you who's got the thick head. You never listen to me when I tell you to do something, even if it's in your best interest." He just shrugged and leaned against the wall.  
"Whatever you say." He said. I waited for him to move away from the wall and walk away, but he just starred back at me. I finally gave up and sighed.  
"OK." I said. "Maybe I do have something on my mind." Buck smirked.  
"Not hard to tell you're thinking about Dally drooling over you in that dress." He nodded his head towards the piece of fabric lying on the bed. I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"If you knew, why did you ask?" Buck shrugged.  
"Not very often you even think about opening up about stuff like this." He said as he stood up straight and buried his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Listen, Mia. I'm thinking about buying a license to actually own a bar."  
"So?" I continued to go through my clothes.  
"So, I need to have a witness or partner or something like that. I was wondering if you wanted to be in on it." I turned and looked at him.  
"Are you serious?" I asked in shock. When he nodded, I couldn't help but cover my mouth and stare at him with wide eyes. He noticed my looked and rolled his eyes.  
"I figured it might help you get back on your feet after all this." I starred for a moment, unable to say a word. Buck sighed and walked to the door. "I'll give you some time to think about it. But I need to know by Monday, Mia." With that, he walked out the door. I watched him go for a minute before sitting down on the bed.  
In this town, if you went up and asked someone who Buck Merrill was, they'd probably say something along the lines of a drunk, cheating, lazy, partying, bootlegging cowboy who wasn't going to get anywhere. I'd say the same thing, minus the not going to get anywhere, and add one single word that would make everyone stop and stare if I said it in a crowd; caring.  
Everyone knows Buck for who he is now; but they don't think about what he use to be. Sure he was always lazy, always throwing parties and always doing some bootlegging on the side. But that isn't everything he is, not to me.  
When Dally and I first arrived from New York, we had no place to stay. We talked to some people and they said to talk to this guy Buck. We did, and he gave us two rooms, didn't charge us anything, just as long as we behaved and helped out around the house. We were more then willing- well, I was more then willing- to do the work if it meant a roof over my head. Dally was a little less energetic about the idea, but I told him that if he was the reason I didn't stay in a house, I was going to send him through the window. At the time he rolled his eyes and said he help, but I knew he was going to do anything willingly.  
But even when Dally wasn't willing to work, Buck never threw us out, and for that I am thankful. It's meant that we've always had a place to stay if we needed one.  
Not many people would believe me if I said all that to them, but it's true. Buck does have a heart, he just doesn't show it very often. He always use to say that Dally and I are the reason he is starting to get gray hair; all because we were crazy kids when we were young, and we didn't slow down as we got older.  
I sighed and dragged myself away from my thoughts, I could sit here and go back in time for days. But I couldn't do that this time, I had to face my fears head on.  
I looked at the clock on the nightstand and it read 11:45 pm. The funeral tomorrow was at 10:30 am. I don't know why Darry made it so early, I guess so that it gets done and over with so we can have the rest of the day to go back to bed and cry alone.  
I felt like crying right now. But instead I just shook my head and laid the dress over the chair that was in the corner of the room. I figured I might as well wear it; I really didn't have anything else.  
Getting up off the bed, I rummaged through my dresser drawer to find my pajamas. Once i found them, I threw them on and crawl into bed. I didn't want to wake up eve again when I fell asleep, but I knew Dally wouldn't be too happy with me if I started ignoring him.  
"I'll never ignore you, Dally." I whispered. "I'm going to get back at the boys who did this. I promise." I rolled over and closed my eyes. Letting sleep take over my run down brain.

XXX

Well that wasn't so bad. It's going to get better though, I promise.  
Reviews would be lovely!

~Stay Gold


	6. Chapter 6: Blame, hate and misery

A/N: This chapter will be at the funeral and afterwards.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.

XXX

I woke up to the sound of rain falling outside the window, and a damp chill in the air of the room.  
"Makes sense." I mumbled to myself as I rolled over and curled up in a ball under the covers and closed my eyes. I didn't bother to look at the alarm clock, it was still too dark outside to even think about getting up.  
"Get up, Mia!" I creaked my eyes open and looked at the wall. "You have 2 hours to eat and get ready." I rolled onto my back and starred at the ceiling for a moment. Dammit! I was hoping maybe I'd sleep through today.  
With a sigh, I dragged myself from the bed and walked over to chair where I'd thrown the dress the night before.  
_I'm going to freeze to death._ I thought as I picked the dress up and hold it in the air to look at it.  
Just then, I heard a knock on the door.  
"Come in." I said absently as I tried to figure out what I was now going to wear.  
You can still wear the dress, Mia." I turned to see Buck standing in the doorway of the bedroom. "It's chilly in here but outside is surprisingly mild. You won't get cold." I looked at him for a moment; he looked tired, like he hadn't slept much last night.  
"OK." I said. I didn't feel like arguing with him about anything right now. "I'm still going to wear a sweater." Buck nodded and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts.  
"Buck!" I yelled quickly. His head came back around the doorframe.  
"What?" He asked. I quickly searched through my brain for something to say.  
"Are you going to the funeral?" Stupid! Of course he's going to the funeral!  
Buck raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't make a comment about my absurd question. Instead he just nodded.  
"Yea. I'll drive you over if you want me to." I nodded and muttered thanks before he left me to get dressed.  
I pulled on the dress and pulled my hair back into loose bun. Dally use to comment that I looked good with my hair back like this (I think mostly because I'd be wearing one of his oversized shirts with it). God I missed him so much. It hurt like hell to think about him.  
"Come on, Mia." Buck's voice called from downstairs. "You need to eat something." I sighed and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.  
"I'm not hungry." I said as I pulled the orange juice from the fridge. It was the only thing beside beer that went into the fridge and came out before the expiry date.  
"You need to eat something." Buck said as he searched the cupboards for something to eat himself. He didn't eat breakfast very often, but when he did, we never had anything. Dally and I normally slept until lunch anyway so there was no point.  
"There's no breakfast type food, Buck." I said to him as I walked towards the door. Rain was pouring from the rooftops and splattering across the porch. What a great day for a funeral; muddy, wet, rainy and just plain miserable.  
_Brilliant._ I thought sarcastically to myself. _Just damn brilliant._  
I walked to the closet by the door and opened the sliding door to grab my black zip up hoodie. I slid my feet into my black army like boots, just as Buck came to the door chewing on something.  
"Energy bar." He said through a mouthful of food. I scrunch up my face in disgust.  
"I really don't want to know how long they were wherever they were." I said as I lead the way out the door and to the car.

The ride to the cemetery was silent. I had my forehead pressed up against the glass of the window, and was watching the water streak past as if they had somewhere to go.  
"Hope you didn't put mascara on." Buck said with a smirk at me. "It's not going to last one minute in this weather."  
"It wouldn't have lasted anyway." I wasn't in the mood for humor. Buck sighed and parked the car. Before I could get out, he reached over and took my hand.  
"I know you miss him, Mia." He said and I turned away from the look he was giving me. "But you can't go doing anything crazy just because he's gone. I'm sure he wouldn't be impressed."  
"Well he isn't here to be disappointed now is he?" I bit back at him. I was in no mood to go into some sappy talk with anyone right now.  
Buck sighed and let go of my hand.  
"Just don't go jumping off cliffs, Mia." He said as he reached into the backseat and grabbed his jacket.  
I nodded my head and pulled up the hood of my sweater to keep my hair somewhat dry. I'd probably take it off at some point to let myself get soaked with rain, but for now I wanted to stay somewhat dry.  
I waited for Buck at the front of the car before we headed into the cemetery for what I'd always call the worst moment of my whole life, and that was saying something considering some of the stuff I'd been through.

What was left of the gang was standing inside the church doors. At first my muscles tensed against going inside, the last church I'd been in had burnt down, and before that, well, I don't even remember when the last time I was in a church. Probably when Dally's mother died.  
I walked in and gave Buck a reassuring nod that I was fine when he looked at me. He nodded back and went to sit in the church while I walked over to the guys standing in greeting section of the church.  
Soda immediately opened his arms for a hug, and I melted into his comforting embrace. It felt good to have some sort of contact besides shaking hands.  
Once I released Soda, I gave all the boys a hug, hanging onto Darry a little longer. He'd always been my backbone, even when Dally was alive. When Dally was in jail and I was fuming at him, Darry normally found some way to calm me down; whether it was by just sitting and talking or taking a cake out of the freezer and eating half of it between the two of us. He never had time to relax or do anything for himself, but for whatever reason that I'd never understand, he made time for me- never more then an hour though. But that was all I needed sometimes.  
"How you doing, Mia?" He asked. I shrugged.  
"As good as I'm goin' to get I guess." I tried to give them a reassuring smile, but it felt more like a grimace.  
Two- Bit came up to my side and rubbed at my back. I smiled at him and we stood there waiting for the priest to show and whoever else planned on coming.  
I watched as more people then I'd ever expected to come to the funeral walked in out of the rain (we had about 5 minutes before we had to go out into the rain for the funeral).  
I felt anger grow in the pit of my stomach as I watched John and Bethany Cade walk in, drunken expressions on their faces- though they were surprisingly steady on their feet. I started to follow them into the church, to give them a piece of my mind about how I felt about them showing up here, but Darry held me back.  
"Don't bother, Mia." He said quietly. "They ain't worth it." I looked over at where they were sitting by themselves at the back of the building; he was right, they weren't worth it. But I was going to give it to them on a shiny silver plate someday; revenge is a dish best served cold as they say.  
Finally, the priest showed up and we all headed out into the rain.  
I stood at the front with the boys, though I continued to look down at my shoes, I couldn't bring myself to face the full truth of why I was here. I really didn't want to.  
I didn't really listen to the priest talking; though I caught him say something about "great boys that would be dearly missed." I nearly burst out laughing. Who the hell was going to miss Dally? The police? I don't think so. And what about Johnny? His parents? If you stood beside me and said that, I'd call an ambulance to come take you to a mental hospital. They probably wouldn't even remember who he was by the end of the week.

No, no one was going to miss those two boys besides the gang and me.  
I took my hood off and let the rain soak me, running from my hair down my back and soaking all my clothes. It wasn't until then that I looked up at the coffins in front of me. I blinked back the tears, but they came out anyway, trailing down my face with the rain. At least no one would know.

Finally, it's over. But I can't move my feet, nor my eyes. My feet are glued to the ground and my eyes are glued to the tombstones. They're pathetic really; two blackish gray stones with the names, dates if birth, dates of death and a small quote that we were allowed to have put on. They both have 2 quotes: one from the boys and one from me. I had to pay a little extra for it, but it was worth it.  
On Johnny's I had "Best brother anyone could ask for." engraved in it. On Dally's I had "Even in death, you're everything I need to survive." put on it. I didn't want it to sound sappy, but anyone who looked at the stone needed to know that Dally wasn't just your regular JD, he meant something to someone. Me.  
"You're goin' to freeze to death out here." I turned to see Tim Shepard standing behind me, a leather jacket protecting him from the continual rain.  
"Better then staying here." I mumbled as I turned back to the stones. I was freezing; my hoodie had long since felt like I'd just jumped into a lake with it on, and I could feel myself shivering.  
"I don't think that would be very pleasant." Tim said as he came to stand beside me. We starred at the stones in silence, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts.  
Tim, his siblings and a few of his gang that had known Dally the best had come to the funeral, though Tim, Curly and Angela came in Tim's car while the rest of them came in Tim's second's car.  
Everyone had left already, save the boys who'd gone into the church to talk to the priest. Though I think now they're just waiting for me. They're wasting their time, I ain't leaving until I can't feel my fingers, I'm thinking about 5-10 minutes from now.

Buck left, saying he had stuff to do around the house before any party goers came over. But I knew he wasn't going to have a party tonight, no one in town was going to be over- or at least the ones who cared to give people space.  
I pulled out of my thoughts when Tim's hand waved in front of my face.  
"Earth to Mia." He said. I blinked and leaned back so that I didn't see double of his hand.  
"What?" I asked.  
"I asked if you wanted a ride back to Buck's." He asked as he leaned over to light a cigarette. I didn't see why he was bothering, it wasn't going to last very long in this weather.  
I shrugged and looked over at the church; the boys were just leaving and heading for the Darry's truck. Though Steve and Two- Bit had brought their own transportation, they'd probably stand around for a few minutes before going their separate ways to sulk around for the rest of the day. Besides that, Soda and Darry needed to get home to Ponyboy. He'd come to on Tuesday, but the doctor said he had to stay in bed for at least a week. Two- Bit's ma had said she'd stay with him since she wasn't planning on coming to the funeral. It was the gang's thing and she didn't want to get involved. She'd never really known Johnny and Dally anyway.  
"Do you always zone out this much?" Tim's voice cut through my mind and I blinked at him. Tim rolled his eyes. "Curly and Angel got a ride back with Tony and the guys. Do you want a ride or not?" I nodded and head and followed him towards his car. It was a black 1963 Ford Galaxie 500, real nice car for someone on this side of town. But then again, that car was one of the few things Tim looked after.  
"I see you got new wheels on it." I said as I slid into the passenger seat. My wet legs stuck to the seat and I grumbled as I pulled the dress down to cover them more.  
"Yea. Cost me most of my rodeo money. I'd been saving that to get this thing fixed up." Tim pulled out of the parking space and turned to go in the direction of Buck's.  
I knew that if we hadn't just been at Dally's funeral, Tim would have given a very colorful list of names for Dally that normally came after they fought over something.  
I sighed and leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. I hadn't realized how tired I was until Tim was shaking my shoulder, telling me that we were at Buck's and I could get out now.  
"Thanks, Tim." I said as I opened the door and climbed out.  
"No prob'." He said before I closed the door. "Catch ya later, doll." He called out the window as he pulled away and headed back towards his house.  
It wasn't until I stepped into the house and started taking off my boots that realized what Tim Shepard had just done for me; brought me to Buck's, even though it was more out of the way for _him_ to _take me_ then _for me_ to get Steve or Two- Bit to drop me off.  
Strange. I thought as I shed my dripping sweater on the back of a chair and headed for Buck's private stash of drinks. Tim Shepard wasn't normally the kind of person to go out of his way to help someone. Heck! He wasn't the type of person to really help even if it didn't take him out of his way to do so.  
Sighing, I figured I was thinking about it too hard, so I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass from behind the bar. I walked up the stairs to my room and threw the dress in a corner of the room before pulling on warm pajamas.  
I flopped down onto the bed and poured myself a glass of the brownish red alcohol. I raised the glass towards the ceiling and said, "Here's to you, Dally. I hope you're watching what you've done- you and Johnny both." I tipped my head back and down the drink, letting it burn the back of my throat.  
I kept drinking until I couldn't even sit up straight and passed out on the bed.  
_I hate you Dallas_. Was my last thought as tears came back to my eyes. _I'll hate you for the rest of my life and then some._

XXX

Well that was a long chapter... Sorry for the long wait, school can really get in the way of free time can't it? :p Oh well, it'll be over someday.  
So I hope you all liked that chapter, I had a hard time getting into the right state of mind to get that all down on... Pixel? I was going to say paper, but I typed this on my iPod. :) Silly me!  
So I hope you liked it. The next chapter might be a little later (Shocker) because I don't even have an idea of where to go from here. It'll come to me at some point.  
Bye for now though.

~Stay Gold


	7. Chapter 7: Notice

Ok. I know we aren't supposed to use chapters as Author's notes, but as you can see, it's an improvement from not posting anything. (Sorry about that everyone, been a bit busy lately. Don't kill me!)

So anyway. I've come to the conclusion that I can't do 2 long fanfictions at once. This means- unfortunately- that I'm going to have to cut back on- or basically stop writing- either Dancing across the Sky or No Safe Place. I'm really sorry to anyone- everyone actually- who is reading one or the other. But I feel since I'm taking one away, I might as well at least let you guys decide which story is discontinued for now. I promise I'll keep my ideas for both going; just one story won't get posted for awhile.

So now you guys need to vote, which story do you want me to continue writing? Dancing Across the Sky or No Safe Place? You can put it in a review or you can PM me. I'll wait about 2-3 weeks before posting it on my profile page which one isn't going to get posted for awhile.

This message will be in both the stories, so if you could just vote once so that it doesn't get too confusing for me that would be nice. People who don't have Fanfiction accounts, your opinion is really important too, so I'd love to know which story you're liking the best.

Once again, really sorry. But my mind is giving me conflicting story ideas and mixing them all up; it's becoming increasingly difficult with that plus school work.

I wish I could write both stories, but I can't. :'(

Please vote!

~Stay Gold


	8. Chapter 8: Starting Fresh

A/N: hey everyone! Remember me? I'm that person who doesn't update as much as I'd like too... Yup, that's me. Sorry for the long delay, that last few weeks have been a bit crowded with stuff. But to make up for it, I'm hoping to post 2 chapters by the weekend. I set very high goals for myself as you may notice. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders.

XXX

Days and nights went by, and I only got up to go to the bathroom. Also to get more to drink. Before I knew it, it'd been 2 days since I left my room for any extended period of time.  
Buck had come up yesterday to try and get me out of bed- or into clean clothes probably. But I refused to get up, unless it was of dire importance. But for me, at this point in time there was nothing more important then getting drunk out of my mind and forgetting about everything that was going on in the world around me.  
I swayed on the bed as I starred at the beer bottles that littered the bedroom, and then at the one in my hand. The world seemed to be slowly sinking into a black blob before my eyes. Moving the bottle to my lips, I managed one more gulp before it slipped from my hand and I fell into the blackness.

XXX

"Mia? Mia! Get up!" The pounding in my head, did not mix well with the pounding on the door. I groaned and put my pillow over my head.  
"Go away, Buck!" I whined feebly. But even that hurt.  
"Not until you get up." Buck's voice called through the door. "You can't just waste away your life like this! You need to get up and face life head on!" From under my pillow I raised an eyebrow at Buck's words. Since when was he the philosophical type? He hasn't faced life in years- unless of course it… Ohh, I know.  
"What do you get out of this, Buck?" I asked. "Not like what I do is any of your business." There was a pause and for a moment I thought he'd left.  
"It is my business when you're in on this whole bar deal thing with me." My eyes shot open before I squeezed them shut against the light. Damn hangovers!  
"Someone is coming to inspect this afternoon." I slowly sat up in the bed and reached over to close the curtains. Once there was minimal light I opened my eyes. I got up from the bed and made my way to the door. I was about to open it when I remembered I was only wearing my bra and underwear. I grabbed the t-shirt that was lying over the end of the bed and pulled it over my head. It must have been one of Dally's shirts because he draped down to my knees.  
Upon opening the door, I saw Buck starring at me.  
"Are they really coming today?" I asked. Buck nodded and looked me up and down.  
"Yea, but with the way you look, I don't think we'll be getting that license." I scowled.  
"Give me a few minutes." I rubbed my head in hopes that it would sooth the feeling of my brain exploding from my skull. "What time are they going to be here?"  
"Around 3:30." Buck said. "You have about 5-6 hours." I smirked.  
"That's more then enough time. You could have let me sleep some more with that amount of time until they arrive." Buck shrugged as he turned and started for the stairs.  
"I need some help with other stuff as well when you're done getting ready." I closed the door and sank to the floor, holding my head in my hands. Damn this hangover!

XXX

1 hour later, I was cleaned up, hair done up in a messy bun, and room cleaned up. A little bit anyway.  
And how did I get through all thus with a hangover you may ask? I took a whole load of aspirin. I don't normally do that, but today I made an exception.  
"Mia! Come give me a hand with this, would ya?!" I took in a deep breath before hauling the basket of clothes down the stairs.  
"What do ya need help with, Buck?" I asked. "Do you have any clothes that need to be washed? I'm going to take a load down to the cleaners." Buck appeared from behind the counter that he used as a bar with a box of beer bottles in his arms.  
"Yea, probably. But that's not important right now." I watched from the bottom of the stairs as he walked towards the basement stairs, the door down was wide open. "You need to help me move all these boxes to the basement. They can't know that we've- I've- already been selling beer steadily without a license." I smirked and walked towards Buck's room to put the basket down for now while I helped him move the boxes. But when I stepped in, my jaw nearly hit the floor.  
His room was a mess; shirts thrown everywhere, plates and glasses- along with beer bottles- were stacking up on the dresser and in corners, and the bed was a complete disaster. Then there was the smell.  
"Ugh, Buck!" I dropped the basket to the floor so I could cover my mouth and nose with my hands. I quickly backed out of the room in an effort to get away from the toxic stench. "I think something died and is now decaying in your room!" Buck walked over from the basement door and looked in.  
"Possibly." He said as if it was totally natural to have something like that happen. "Not like when I was a kid." He added before turning back to the bar to grab another box. I watched him go in disgust before looking back at the mess.  
"I feel for however had to clean that mess," I said as I turned and walked to the door. "If I have to clean _this_."  
"Where are you going?"  
"To get cleaning supplies so I can clean this house." I grabbed my now dry sweater from inside the closet. "If people are coming to inspect this place, it has to be at least a little bit cleaner then it is right now." Before Buck could say anything else, I walked out the door.

XXX

A/N: Hey! Look at that! I finally posted a chapter! Three cheers for me!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that chapter, I know it was kind of short, but I'm hoping to have the next chapter up in a little bit, it isn't very long. Sorry there isn't much to this one, the really interesting part isn't going to come around for a few more chapters. SORRY!

P.S. Just to be safe. If I don't post the next chapter before tomorrow. Merry Christmas! I won't be posting until after Boxing Day probably. Id anyone doesn't do the Boxing Day thing; it's the day after Christmas here in Canada. Where you turn to icicles from the below zero temperatures. It's cold here today.

~Stay Gold


	9. Chapter 9: Shockwave

A/N: Two chapters in one day... That's different. Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you enjoy the holidays! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders. :'( Sad but true.

XXX

"Well if it isn't Miss. Mia Baker." I turned away from the minimal selection of air fresheners to see Tim strolling up the isle of the store towards me.  
"Well if it isn't Mr. Tim Shepard." I said back, a smirk gracing over my face. It's a trademark thing; most Greasers didn't smile, just gave each other these lopsided... Looks I guess. I never did understand what make it so intimidating, but if all it took was a look to make people go away- or forget about messing with you- then I was all for it.  
"What brings you to this part of the store?" Tim smirked at me. See? Everyone does it around here. It spreads like the plague.  
"Ma was sober enough this morning to notice that the house was a mess." I snickered.  
"So she sent you out to buy cleaning supplies?" Tim chuckled and shifted from leaning on one foot, to leaning on the other.  
"Nah. She kicked Angel, Curly and me out of the house for the day while she cleans. I came for a pack of cigarettes. But I saw you and thought I'd grace you with my presence." I snorted and rolled my eyes.  
"Boy do I feel special." Tim chuckled, then looked at the shelf I'd been starring at when he'd come up.  
"So what are you doin'?" He asked. "It ain't exactly an everyday thing to see you in the cleaning section of a store." I sighed and looked at the basket by my feet that already had a different assortment of cleaners.  
"People are coming to Buck's for an inspection. He wants to buy a bar license." I paused for a moment. "He wants me to be his partner in the deal. So I figured I might as help by cleaning the house up a bit." Tim nodded.  
"Sounds like... Fun. But why would you partner up with Buck? For a bar none the less?" I stood quietly for a moment before going back to looking at the different air fresheners.  
"Buck said it might do me good." I said. "He says it might help me get back on my feet after..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Tim seemed to get the message in the fallen words and an awkward silence fell over us.  
"So how are you holding out?" He asked after a moment. I blinked, but didn't look at him. Am I just going crazy? Or did I really just hear concern in his voice?  
I shrugged, pretending that I didn't hear anything different in his voice.  
"I can't stop moving just because Dally is gone." No matter how much I would love to do so. I added in my head as I finally chose an air freshener. "He'd never forgive me if I did something like that."  
"Yea. He'd probably have the same reaction if you bought _that_." Tim said as he pointed at the can of freshener in my hand. "I never really took him for a flower loving kind of guy." I blinked as I looked at the picture on the can that I'd grabbed at random off the shelf. Lilies. Well, that's just great!  
I could feel heat rising into my cheeks and sighed; rubbing my forehead and closing my eyes, hoping I could cover up my embarrassment with frustration.  
"Well what would you suggest then?" I asked. Tim looked at the small selection before grabbing one.  
"The ocean is always cool." He said as he handed the can to me. I took it and looked at it;_ ocean breeze_. Why hadn't I thought of that?  
"You ever been to the ocean?" I asked as I swapped cans and headed for the counter to pay for the cleaning supplies.  
"When I was a kid." Tim said as he followed me up and leaned against the counter. "Pack of Kools." He said to the girl standing there. She gave him a weird look, which Tim took with a charming grin. Did I say describe Tim's grin as charming? I'm losing it!  
"Curly was almost a year old when my parents took us out for the day. It was cool. So have you been there?" He asked after we'd both paid for our stuff and were walking out the door. I nodded my head as we got to Buck's car (which I borrowed without him knowing).  
"Yeah. Dally and I spent a few weeks sleeping in an abandoned car by the beach. It was really nice. Until the crack addicts started coming around. We beat it out of there before the cops decided to show up and bust some of them." Tim chuckled as I tossed the bags of stuff into the backseat of the car and slammed it shut.  
"Sounds like some pretty cool times." I nodded my head.  
"Besides the offers from people to buy their drugs, it wasn't bad. One of the few things Dally never got into was drugs, and I never complained. Them boys at the beach looked pretty creepy while on whatever crap they were on."  
"I bet." Tim said. "So you want some help?" My hand paused, hovering over the door handle to the driver's door. I turned and blinked at him.  
"Help?" I repeated. "Did I just hear the great Tim Shepard ask if he could HELP clean a house?" Tim rolled his eyes.  
"Naw, I just asked if I could make you dinner." He said sarcastically. He smirked as I continued to stare at him without making a comment.  
Finally I managed to peal my eyes away from him and turned to the car. I shook my head as I opened the door.  
"Now I _know_ I've been drinking too much." I mumbled under my breath as I slide into the seat and fumbled in my pocket for the keys.  
"What?" Tim stopped the door from closing and bent down so he and I are at eye level with each other.  
We're really close and I can smell stale cigarette smoke, his cheap cologne and hair grease.  
"Anyone in there?" I shook m head and moved backwards when a noticed the hand swiping close to my face.  
"What?" I asked. Tim rolled his eyes and stood up, pulling a cigarette out of his new pack and lighting it up.  
"I'll be over at Buck's in a little bit." Then he turned and walked away without another word.  
I starred at his retreating form before I zoned back into reality and closed the door, shaking my head.  
"I'm losing my mind," I said to myself as I turned the key and pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm in some freaking creepy twilight zone." That was the only explanation my hung over brain could come up with to explain this weird stuff that was happening to me at this moment in time.

XXX

Merry Christmas! :) These two chapters are my Christmas gifts to everyone who's reading this story. :) I hope everyone's enjoying the story!  
Please review! They're the coolest Christmas gifts you guys could give to me! I appreciate everyone who reviews.

~Stay Gold and Happy Holidays! :)


	10. Chapter 10: Tear me apart

A/N: Here's chapter 10 everybody! :) This one will have a little more action... Sort of. It won't be as dull as the last couple of chapters, I promise. Also, I'm hoping that for the rest of the chapters, I can find songs that will kind of go with whatever is going on. Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders, or _Skin and Bones_ by Marianas Trench

XXX

_I lock the door  
Turn on the water  
And Bury that sound  
So no one hears anything anymore_

I was washing down the bar and back shelves when Tim walked in, a cigarette hanging from his lips.  
"A few minutes, eh?" I asked as I rung the cloth out in a bucket of water I had sitting beside me. "I'll have to remember that your few minutes is an hour and a half. Would you put out that cigarette?!" Tim raised an eyebrow at me.  
"And why would I do that?" He asked. I glared at him.  
"I've used a full can of air freshener already in this house! And it still smells like smoke! Now put it out or go outside with it!" Tim's hands went up in surrender and he put it out in one of the ashtrays on a table.  
"Someone's snippy today." He commented as he came and sat on one of the bar stool and leaned on my freshly cleaned counter. "So where's Buck?" I smirked.  
"I'm making him clean his room." Tim snorted.  
"What are you? His mother?" I snickered.  
"No, but I wasn't going to clean that mess. I don't really understand why these people have to come and inspect the place, so if they go lookin around and see his room, we can forget the license."  
"Is it really that bad?"  
"Worse." I sprayed the bottom shelf with the lemon scented cleaner and cleaned away the thick layer of dust. "I hate to guess when the last time was that this place had a good cleaning." I said as I swiped the dust out of my face. "It's too messy to have been cleaned within the past year." Tim snickered just as Buck came out of his room with the basket I had dropped in there earlier.  
"More clothes." He said.  
"Are you done in your room yet?" I asked. When he glared at me I took it as a no. "Well hurry up, I've finished here and those tables need to be moved to the basement. It would look kind of odd to have more then one table in a house." Buck sighed and dropped the basket on the old couch in the living room.  
"I can do that now." I rolled my eyes. So it wasn't just a kid thing to not want to clean you room.  
"OK, but your room does need to get cleaned. Tim help him with those tables."  
"Yes, ma'am." He said mockingly. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he'd already turned to help Buck take the tables to the basement.  
"Don't hurt yourselves." I called as I started up the stairs.  
"Don't jinx our luck." Tim called back. I smirked and rolled my eyes, then went to cleaning the upstairs bathroom. I hated the thought of cleaning the downstairs one; I was saving the best for last... Ha! Yea right!

XXX

4 hours later, I'd cleaned the upstairs and downstairs bathroom, moped the main part of the upstairs- as well as the stairs- and had moped the better part of downstairs. Buck and Tim, well, they moved the tables then stood around the kitchen- which I had also just cleaned- drinking beer and chatting about whatever it was guys talked about after hauling tables down to the basement.  
After I was done mopping, I joined them. I hopped up on the counter and opened a beer, letting it slide down my throat.  
"Well, that was fun." I said. "Thanks for your help guys."  
"No problem." Tim said with a smirk. I made a face at him before taking another swig for the beer bottle in my hand. "So when are they suppose to get here?" I looked at the clock on the top of the fridge.  
"About half an hour or so." I said. Tim nodded and finished off his beer.  
"Well, I gotta go. Got some stuff to do before it gets dark. Hey, Mia, I was wondering if you wanted to grab something to eat later tonight." I raised an eyebrow and hopped off the counter, placed my beer down and walked with him to the front door.  
"Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked as I leaned against the wall while he pulled on his sneakers that looked almost as bad as mine.  
Tim chuckled and grabbed his coat as he stood up straight. I never noticed how tall he was.  
"I ain't that desperate to take a girl out." He said with a lopsided grin. I pretended to look hurt, but gave him a smirk.  
"Sorry, no can do. I have plans for tonight- which includes sleep, a lot of sleep." Tim shook his head.  
"Girls sleep too much. Angela doesn't get up till 2:30 in the afternoon some days." I laughed. If only he knew what his sister was up to those nights.  
"We're not the only ones. Buck and Dally use to sleep all day some times." I gave a small smile, but it didn't hold any real feelings in it. I was tired and still upset over Dally. I don't think this pain will ever go away.  
Tim nodded and walked towards the door.  
"Well have fun with that." He said. "I'll come by tomorrow and we can go for lunch." Before I could even process what he had said, Tim had opened the door and walked out. With a frustrated sigh, I rubbed at my temples.  
"Holy crap. These boys are all going to drive me into the ground someday." With a final sigh and a hit to the head on the wall, I went to get cleaned up again, since now I smelled like lemon cleaner.

XXX

A knock on the door pulled me out of the kitchen where I'd been making a sandwich out of the small amount of bread there was that wasn't covered in mould, and the leftover chicken from who knows when. I figured if it still smelled OK, then it was fine to eat.  
"Hurry up and get down here Buck!" I yelled up the stairs. "They're here!" I opened the door and smiled at the two people standing in front of me. They were Socs, that was the first thing that came to mind when I saw them in their fancy business suits. Well, this should be fun now shouldn't it?  
"Hello," I said politely. "I'm guessing you're the inspectors." The man nodded and I stepped aside to let them in.  
There were two of them, a man and a woman, both in their late 40s. I'd describe the rest of their appearance, but that would make me look like I actually cared about them.  
"I'm guessing you're not Buck Merril." The man said.  
"No, Buck will be down in a moment." Those as if on que, he came down the stairs. I was shocked to see him in a decent shirt and an actual clean pair of jeans.  
"Sorry." He said as he came forward and held out his hand for the inspectors to shake. "Buck Merril." He gave me a look and I held out my hand, a fake smile plastered to my face. Though the way the guy smiled back, I was obviously pulling it off.  
"Mia Baker." I said lightly.  
"Denis Smith and this is my partner, Grace Sheldon." I blinked at the name and turned to the woman standing beside Denis. Everything about her seemed to scream that she was the dead Socs mother. I silently gulped. Uh-oh, this could get ugly.  
"Nice to meet you both." I said. I was lying through my teeth now. The woman was scrutinizing me; she seemed to know that I was involved in her son's death- even if it was only on the side. And as if to prove that point...  
"You're friends with the boy who killed my son." She stated. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jeans.  
"I WAS friends with the boy who killed your son. Johnny died because of severe burns after saving a bunch of kids from burning in a church." The woman nodded, but I could see in her eyes what she thought about that. It was as loud as if she had said it out loud, and I couldn't fight the urge to speak up against her thoughts.  
"Johnny didn't deserve to die." I said through my teeth. "But your son did-" gasp. "Johnny killed him in self-defence. Him and his friends attacked _them_. If your son had just left them alone, then everyone would still be alive. Johnny would be alive, Dally would be alive, and your son-as drunk as he'd probably be right now- would still be alive." I turned and stormed up the stairs. I could hear Buck yelling up for me, but I didn't stop or turn around. I stormed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut, locking it behind me. Tears came flowing to my eyes and I didn't stop them. I took off my clothes and turned the water on hot in the shower. I stepped in and sat down under the hot spray. No one could know that my whole world was killing me. I couldn't stand for anyone to know.

_It only hurt a bit  
I still feel like shit  
And I think you won't be able to recognize me now  
It's easier to quit  
It's harder to admit and  
You're pushing me, you're fucking pushing me!_

__XXX

A/N: Another chapter to make up for the weeks that I didn't put up anything at all. Sorry for that! Now this is definitely the last chapter until after Christmas. I'm hoping to think up a good Christmas one- shot.

Merry Christmas everyone! :)

~Stay Gold!


	11. Chapter 11: Nightmares and Flashbacks

A/N: OK, so this chapter is kind of weird. Definitely different from the rest of this story. It has almost nothing to do with the story line for NSP, except that it's from Mia's point of view and it takes place after Dally dies... I don't even honestly know where this came from. I had a whole different plan for this chapter, but then this kind of popped up in my head and I thought 'hey, that'd been a cool chapter.' So yea, here ya go. It's only short, but whatever.

XXX

My eyes shot open and I looked around me. I was in my bed, at Buck's, but all I could see was fire. My eyes widened and I scrambled back to the corner of the bed. I rubbed at my eyes to see if it would go away, but when I moved them away from my eyes the flames seemed bigger and brighter then before.  
I screamed.  
I screamed and screamed, feeling like I was suffocating in the smoke. I could hear something and saw Dally rush in.  
"Dally help!" I cried out. He rushed towards me and fell to his knees beside the bed. Then he started shaking me.  
"Dally, stop shaking me! Help me!" I reached out, but he pulled back.  
"Mia, you have to wake up!" He said as he started shaking me again. "You have to wake up." His voice started to fade away, as did the rest of him and the flames.  
"DALLY!" I cried out as I sunk into a black hole. "Dally! Come back! Come back!"  
I jolted up on my bed and looked around franticly. Sweat had soaked through my shirt and my hair was sticking to my forehead.  
"Mia, are you OK?" I looked to my left and saw Buck kneeling beside the bed, a shirt hastily thrown on and jeans only half done up with the belt hanging lose. I'd obviously caught him while he slept.  
I sat silently and gulped in mouthfuls of air before I nodded.  
"Yea." I said breathlessly. "I'm fine. Just a nightmare. Sorry for waking you up." Buck didn't look like he was believing me.  
"Are you sure, Mia?" He asked. "I haven't heard you scream like that since that fight with the Socs 3 years ago when you guys got into that knife fight." I turned red at the memory.  
My first knife fight in Tulsa, and I had to go and get a nice looking gash down my side. I remember Dally dragging me back here, my blood soaking into his t- shirt. He'd put me in the bathtub before running back downstairs to grab 3 bottles of alcohol from behind the bar.  
"Bit on this." He'd said and handed me a clean towel. "This is going to sting, Mia." He'd opened one bottle and poured it along the cut. I'd bitten down on the towel hard as it burned, but Buck had said that my screams were still easy to hear from downstairs, even over the music.  
"OK, so maybe the dream was a little bit scary." I said to Buck. He looked at me and I turned away. "OK, it was really scary." I was silent as I watched the flames flicker in front of my eyes. "Everything was burning," I whispered. "I couldn't breath, and I was screaming... Dally came through the door, but I guess I must have been seeing you." I bit my lip against the tears. "I thought he was going to save me." Buck sighed and sat on the bed beside me.  
"Dally is gone, Mia." He said. "He isn't around to save you anymore. But just because he isn't physically here, doesn't mean that the ways he saved you in the past won't help save you now and in the future. I mean, take that knife fight for example. He saved your life that night." I smiled a little and nodded. That night would always be clear in my mind.

XXX

_The pain shot through my side as the shiny sliver blade sliced through my skin. I gasped in cold October air and turned. Once of those damn Socs were grinning like a New York street fighter when he thought he'd won. But some of their opponents were a little harder on the inside then they appeared to be on the outside.  
"Shoulda stayed wherever you came from, doll." His almost gagged on the liquor that overpowered my senses.  
"But I've already beaten everyone back home." I said as I yanked the knife from my side. It hurt like hell, but I managed to shove the guy into a tree and used his knife and mine to pin him there.  
"Listen, bucko." I sneered as I pressed my hand to my side and my other to his neck. Not hard enough to choke him, but enough for him to know it'd be a bad idea to move. "Where I come from, knife fights are regular fights. This ain't nothing new for me. Just another one to add to my collection." Just then, I heard some Greaser calling out that the Socs were running like beaten dogs, I turned back to the guy I had pinned to the tree. "If you ever try to mess with me again. I won't hesitate to break half the bones in your body. Clear?" He nodded and I pulled the knifed out so he could run. I waited until he was gone before keeling over into the mud that'd been turned up during the fight.  
I heard voices around me, but only recognized Dally's when he called out for me. I felt the ground move a little when he got down on his knees beside me.  
"Mia? You still here?" I moaned a little and he gave my shoulder a quick pat to show his relief without showing any emotion on his face.  
"Good. Where'd you get hit?" I managed to roll off of my side that I'd landed on and moved my hand for him to look at the gash. I heard whistles from the group of guys that had surrounded me.  
"I ain't never seen one that deep before." I heard someone comment.  
"That's nasty." Another said.  
"Shut up!" Dally finally shouted. "If you freak her out her heart rate goes up and the blood starts coming out faster then it already is! She needs to stay calm." There was silence as Dally inspected the wound.  
"It doesn't look good, Mia." He said calmly. "You falling on it in the mud probably wasn't a good thing."  
"Give me a comparison." I said quietly. I was trying to stay conscious because if I passed out, that just wouldn't be good.  
"It's not quite as bad as Drakes knife wound from our fight with the West Street gang. But it's worse then Trevor's that he got from Damian at the park that night." I nodded my head, now having a slight idea of the depth and length of the cut.  
"That ain't so bad." I said with a weak smile. "At least it ain't like Liam's cut when we fought against the Tribal Tricks gang. That was nasty to clean."  
"Yea, OK, you have to stag quiet and as still as you can, I'm going to have to carry you back to Buck's so we can clean this up before it gets infected." I nodded a little and laid as still as I could on the ground, letting all my muscles relax as Dally got his arm under my neck and my knees.  
"Want some help with her, Winston?" My eyes were hazy, and I could only just make out Tim Shepard stepped forward.  
"I don't know what Socs may stick around to take someone out where they're on their own; I can't fight if I'm carrying her." Tim nodded and motioned for his boys to head back home for the night. Everyone else slowly started going their separate ways.  
Tim walked with us while Dally carried me, he kept his knife in hand until we arrived at Buck's house a few blocks away from where we'd had the fight.  
"Thanks, Tim." I choked out. I was losing too much blood, I was going to go out like a light any minute now.  
"Whatever, Baker. Good luck with that cut of yours."  
Dally got the door opened and started across the crowded room, and up the stairs to the bathroom.  
He put me down in the tub and pulled his already blood soaked shirt off for me to press to the wound.  
"Give me a minute." He said and disappeared out the door and down the stairs. He came back with 3 bottles with a clear alcohol.  
"This is going to sting, Mia." He said as he put the bottles down and searched around the cupboard. "I think this might be clean. Bit it." I did as I was told and bit down on the towel he had handed me. I'd seen him clean the other guys wounds- I'd done it myself more times then I could count. I knew the procedure and what to expect.  
But never in my life have I felt so much pain all at once.  
Dally poured one of the bottles of alcohol onto a cloth to dab around the wound to clean the outer part of it, I bit hard on the towel and shimmered quietly. Then he took another bottle and dumped the whole contents out onto the cut. I bit down harder on the towel, but I still screamed at the sharp pains that went up my side, then all through my body. I didn't last ling before I passed out from the pain._

XXX

"That was definitely a bad night." I said after I was done sinking in my memories. "To this day, I've never felt so much pain all at once." I rubbed my side where the long scar from said night was located.  
"But it didn't end with that night," Buck said. "Dally was up all the next day while you slept through one nasty fever. He barely ate at all; just kept that bottle of alcohol beside the bed with a cloth and a bowl of water. He switched the cloth on your forehead every half hour to make sure it didn't heat up. He might have gotten 2 hours of sleep those two days you need up being out for, Mia." I nodded. I remembered waking up afterwards to see Dally kneeling on the floor beside the bed, his arms folded and his head resting on them.  
"I was scared he'd pass out whenever he got up." I said quietly. "He was swaying so bad sometimes, and he'd use the walls and the door frames to move around when he needed to get me something." I sighed. "I guess your right, Buck." I hated to encourage his ego to get bigger, but he did have a good point. The pain I'd gone through that night had toughened me up some more, and now I could take little things like they were nothing. He'd saved my life that night, and in return, she'd saved his multiple times after that.  
I sighed and rubbed at my eyes.  
"What time is it anyway?" I asked. Buck chuckled.  
"Almost 4 in the morning." He said and I groaned.  
"Sorry to wake you up so early."  
"That's fine. But you do need to get some sleep." I nodded and curled back up under the quilt on my bed.  
"Night, Buck." I said with a yawn. He laughed.  
"It's morning, Mia." He said and I rolled my eyes under my eyelids.  
"Whatever." I said before I managed to drift back to sleep.

XXX

As I said at the beginning. That was very different. But tell me what you think. Do you like the idea of Mia /Buck moments? Not as a couple! But just as like a guardian to a child. I think Buck's a little too soft, but I don't think I've ever read a fanfiction where the characters weren't at least a little OOC. It's always fun to mess with their personalities a little and mix them up. I love FF! :)  
Anywho, reviews would be lovely, as usual. :)

~Stay Gold


	12. Chapter 12:Lunch

A/N: EXAMS ARE OVER! :D Can you tell that I'm happy about that? :) So exams were the reason for no updates the past... Anyone know how long? Cause I don't remember at all!  
Anyway, so I have a few days of peace before I start my second semester. :p fun... Joking, totally joking. So my plan is to get some more chapters written up and hopefully posted before Monday. If you really want at least 2 chapters, pester me into it, otherwise I'll procrastinate and get this one up and that'll be it. :) Procrastinating, a true gift. :p

Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders and I don't own _Cry _by Rihanna

XXX

_My mind is gone, I'm spinning round  
And deep inside, my tears I'll drown  
I'm losing grip, what's happening_

It was late afternoon before I woke up again. I rolled over in bed and dropped my feet over the edge. _Man, it's cold_. I thought as I got up and walked over to the dresser. Out of habit, I opened the bottom drawer first, and almost started to shift through the clothes. I stopped when I notices what I was doing, and starred at the clothes; Dally's clothes.  
Shaking my head and breathing deeply, I closed the drawer forcefully and opened the one above it with my stuff.  
I heard the door downstairs squeak open and slam shut as I pulled on my t-shirt and grabbed a pair of socks. Checking my hair, I grabbed a hair elastic before making my way downstairs.  
As I walked over to the counter, I saw Tim and Buck talking by the door. When he saw me, he smirked.  
"I told you I'd take you out for lunch today." I sat down on one of the stools by the bar, and pulling my socks on.  
"I never said I'd go."  
"I don't see you declining the offer."  
"I'm hungry and since you plan on pay, I'm all for it." Tim rolled his eyes as I shoved my feet into my old sneakers. "See ya, Buck." I said as we walked out the door and over to Tim's car.  
The ride was silent as we drove to the Dingo where Tim had suggested we eat. Not like there was anywhere else to go; unless we wanted to go over to Socs territory. Hell to that!  
When we walked in, a few people turned to look, but most just kept eating their meals.  
"Over there." Tim pointed to one of the few empty booths in the back of the room. I walked over and slid into one seat while Tim sat down in the one across from me.  
"How hungry are you?" He asked when a waitress came over.  
"Really hungry." I said. "I'll have 2 hamburgers with everything, a large fries and a chocolate milkshake." The girl nodded and scribbled down my order before turning to Tim with a sly smile.  
"And what can I get you handsome?" I rolled my eyes an looked away when Tim gave her a look over before smirking.  
Once she walked away, swinging her hips a little too obviously, I turned back to see Tim watching her go.  
"You like that girl?" I asked, catching his attention. He raised an eyebrow at me.  
"What's it to you?" He asked. I looked over to where the girl had just dropped a glass and was now bending down to clean it up. She'd turned her back to a table full of boys who now had an easy view up her skirt.  
"Nothin', just that she's already found 5 other guys." I stated as I looked back at him. "Plus, when she walked away, she reminded me of a deformed duck I once saw in New York. Never knew what was wrong with it, but I always remember it walkin' funny." Tim snorted and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"And what do you care?" He asked, just as the girl came over with our drinks. She placed mine in front of me and handed Tim his coke.  
"There you are, honey." She said smoothly as she leaned in closer. "Sorry, but your food is going to be awhile; lunch rush and all." Tim just shrugged and continued to stare at me, waiting for an answer.  
The girl looked a little put out and I smirked when she turned to look at me. She glared and strutted away.  
"So why do you care?" Tim asked again once she was gone. I shrugged.  
"I don't," I said before taking a sip of my milkshake. "I just don't think you wanna date a girl who waddles around like some deformed duck." Tim rolled his eyes and took a gulp of his coke.  
It was almost 2 hours later that we got our food. I honestly think that girl was hating on us, because people who came in after us got their food and left before we got our food. By the time it arrived, it was starting to get dark out and I was feeling lightheaded from not eating anything in hours. I was almost ready to put my head down on the table, but since I didn't know when it was last washed, I'd managed to keep my head up.  
"I'm starving." I said as I dove into my first burger.  
"When was the last time you ate?" Tim asked. I thought back to the past few days.  
"I think I found some stale cereal in the cupboard yesterday. I don't think I was completely sober at the time." He raised an eyebrow at me.  
"How much have you been drinking lately?" I shrugged as I grabbed some fries.  
"Lost count." He shook his head and we ate in silence.  
When we finished, I was still hungry. Tim pulled out his wallet and tossed some money down on the table.  
"I know a little place where we can get some more food, but with far better service then here."  
"Let's go." I said and slid out if the booth and followed him out to the car.  
It was getting late by the time we came to a small road side trailer, it looked like it was closed though.  
"So much for that idea." I said, but Tim shook his head and got out of the car.  
"Come on, it don't matter. I know the guy who runs the place, he won't mind." I climbed out of the car and followed him over to the trailer door. He knocked and there was a crashing noise inside.  
"Closed!" A voice yelled. "Come back tomorrow when we're opened!"  
"Hey, Billy. It's Tim, open up." there was another round of noises inside before a fat guy in a greasy white t-shirt who looked to be in his late 30's came to the door. He grinned when he saw Tim.  
"Hey, Timmy ol'buddy! Where ya been for the past few months?" The two shook hands as Tim went on about where he'd been.  
"And this is Mia." He said as he finally turned to me. Billy looked at me and grinned.  
"Ay, as in Winston's girl?" He asked. I nodded and narrowed my eyes.  
"How do you know who I am?" I asked. He shrugged and leaned against the side of the trailer. With the size he was, I thought the thing would flip over.  
"I've heard about the two of you causing trouble from my brother. He works at the police department." I scowled. "Don't worry; he ain't the one to do the bookin' and all that. He's the janitor there."  
"Robby?" I asked and Billy nodded. "He use to sneak me donuts when I first started getting booked, he was cool." Billy nodded and straightened up.  
"Yea, he told me about that too. Sorry to hear 'bout Winston, wish I'd been able to met the guy." I shrugged. "So what're you guys doin' out here?"  
"Food." Tim said. "We were at the Dingo for a good 3 hours; two of them were spent waiting for food. She's starving." He pointed at me. "We were hoping you could cook something up fast for us to eat before we head back into town." Billy grinned.  
"My pleasure, what do ya want?"  
"Anything that's edible is fine with me." I said. Billy laughed and nodded.  
"I'm sure I can cook something up. It'll take a bit to get the grills goin', but it won't be too long." I licked my lips at the thought of more food. I was so hungry, I would eat almost anything.  
Tim and I sat on the hood of the car while we waited, the stars were starting to come out, and I was watching them twinkle brightly.  
"So what do you do in your free time?" Tim asked. I turned to look at him and saw him watching his cigarette smoke roll up into the sky. I sighed.  
"I like to read, believe it or not. And I haven't had the time or the drive to, I play the guitar."  
"Really? Since when?"  
"Since I was young. It was the only thing besides some clothes and other things that I brought with me from New York. It's how we made our money for food."  
"Cool. What kind of books do you like?"  
"What is this? 20 questions or something?" I asked.  
"I was just asking!" Tim said in defence as Billy came out with two plates. I licked my lips to keep from drooling. The plates were piled up with fries and more hamburgers. Normally I'm not a fan of all the fast food, but right now it looked like the best thing in the world.  
"Thanks, Billy." Tim said, he started to pull out his wallet, but Billy shook his head.  
"On the house. Just as long as you enjoy it." Tim smirked and shook the man's hand before he disappeared back into the trailer. There weren't any lights on, so Tim got up and turned the light on it the car.  
"So what kind of books do you read?" Tim asked once we'd both put a dent into our meals. I swallowed.  
"Mysteries mostly. If I find another good book I'll read it, but other then that, there really isn't much I'll read. I hate those sappy romance novels; they make me feel sick to my stomach." Tim snorted.  
"Do you have a favourite book?" I bit my lip.  
"Promise you won't laugh?" He gave me a weird look, but nodded.  
"One of my favourite books is Robin Hood." Tim starred at me for a moment, and I could tell he was trying not to laugh as he looked away for a moment. When he turned back, he looked somewhat calm.  
"Why?" Was all he was able to get out without a smile breaking across his face. I rolled my eyes.  
"I don't know. I just did! I think he kind of reminded me of Dally in a way." That cracked him. He burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes again as I finished the last of my fries.  
"I don't see how Robin Hood can even be close to being like Dallas." Tim said once he'd calmed down again.  
"I know he can't." I said as we tossed the plates into the can that was by the trailer. We walked back to the car and climbed in, but instead of driving back towards town, Tim drove farther down the road.  
"Where are we going?" I asked. Tim smirked over at me. It was dark, and I couldn't really see him, but I could tell.  
"I know a good place to look at the stars. It's really nice."  
"Didn't know you were into that sort of thing." I said as I leaned against the window. Now that I'd had all that food, I was feeling really tired.  
"I'm not, but a girl I use to date was and she made me take her here after every date. It was a real pain in the butt."  
"I bet." I said as he pulled off the road. He stopped just at the edge of a tall cliff over looking a lake where the stars were shining brightly.  
"Wow." I said as I looked out the front window. "That's pretty cool."  
"I thought you might think that. Come on." He got out and walked to the front of the car, me following.  
We sat back on the car hood and leaned against the glass. It was chilly out, but not too bad for being the middle of the fall.  
"They're so bright tonight." I said as my eyes started to drift close. I fought it for a moment, but then couldn't resist it any longer, and I fell asleep under the stars.

_Now I'm, in this condition  
And I've, got all the symptoms  
Of a girl with a broken heart  
But no matter what you'll never see me cry_  
XXX

YEAH! First chapter in weeks! :D Party time!  
I hope everyone like it. Please, please, please review! I didn't really get any feedback for my last few chapters and I really missed not hearing your thoughts!  
I hope to have another chapter up soon. It won't be as long, but it'll be a chapter none the less.

~Stay Gold!


	13. Chapter 13: Just another day

A/N: This is going to be the lat disclaimer, cause we all know that I don't own The Outsiders. :(  
So I'll just be posting the song and artist along with the AN.  
_How do I breath_ by _Mario_

XXX  
_It feels so different being here,  
I was so used to being next to you,  
Life for me is not the same,  
There's no one to turn to.  
_  
Light stung at my eyes and I groaned before rolling to my side and curling up. It wasn't until what I'd curled up against moved that I slowly opened my eyes. I nearly screamed at who I saw, and where I was.  
"What is going on?!" I freaked as I looked around. I noticed that I was sitting on the hood of Tim's car, overlooking a good sized lake.  
"What are you talking about?" Tim asked as he rubbed at his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't tell me your memory is that bad." I glared at him as I tried to remember the day before. My memory wasn't that bad... All the time anyway.  
Then I remember; Tim had taken me out for lunch.  
"But why are we still here?" I asked as I looked everywhere but at Tim.  
"You fell asleep while you were looking at the stars. I was going to wake you up to take you back to Buck's, but I guess I fell asleep too." He yawned and stretched as he slid off the car and opened up the door. "Come on, I can take you back as far as town, but I gotta go into the city for a while." I hesitated before getting into the car.  
It was silent as we drove back; I was leaning against the window watching as the trees flew by on the side of the dirt road. I hadn't noticed how far we'd gone down the road last night, but now I saw that it was a fair distance.  
"What are you moping about?" I looked over at Tim to see him with his window down and a cigarette in his hand.  
"I'm not moping." I said as I sat up straight and crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm just tired; sleeping on the hood of a car isn't the most comfortable thing." He snorted and finished off the cigarette before tossing it to the ground outside.  
"And passing out on the floor of your room is much better?" He asked. I glared at him.  
"What are you talking about?" I snapped; though I had a sneaky suspicion that I already knew.  
"Don't play dumb." He said as we finally came off the dirt road and headed back to town. "It's not that hard to tell that you've been drinking constantly since Dallas died. Buck even said that he's found you passed out on the floor of the bathroom a few times." I sneered at him.  
"Well that's my business now isn't it?" I said. "You have no place to tell me what I can and can't do!"  
"Why are you so snappy all of a sudden? You on your period or something?" If he hadn't been driving, I would have slapped him across the face.  
"Just shut up." I said and turned away to look out the window again.  
"Scared Dal will get you for falling asleep on the hood of a car with another guy." My head snapped around to glare at him. "It's not like we slept together, Mia. Stop actin like you've been done wrong." That was it; I refused to be in the car any more.  
"Stop the car, I'm getting out!"  
"But we ain't even to town yet!"  
"Stop the damn car!" Tim sighed and pulled off to the side of the road. I got out and started walking away.  
Tim pulled the car up along side me as I walked, and rolled down the window.  
"Stop actin like this, Mia." He said. "What do you want me to do, say I'm sorry?" I snorted.  
"Tim Shepard say that he's sorry? That'll be the day."  
"Fine. Walk back to town. It looks like it's going to rain, so enjoy." He picked up a bit of speed and started down the road again. I looked around quick as I walker and pick up a decent sized rock. Pulling my arm back and pushing it forward, I sent the rock flying towards his car. But he must have seen me, because he picked up speed again, and the rock just barely touched his bumper.  
I growled and stuffed my hands into my pockets, just as it started to rain. Sometimes life could really suck.

XXX

"Where have you been?" I glared at him as I walked into the house, drenched in rain.  
"Outside in the sunshine." I snapped sarcastically as I tossed my sweater onto the bar counter. "Make a good guess when I've been." Buck crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as I made my way to the stairs to change into dry clothes.  
"Well, since you left for lunch with Tim late yesterday, and then never came home, I can make a guess. But you'd hate to know what it is, wouldn't you?" I scowled and stormed up the stairs, slamming my door once I was inside.  
I pulled on dry clothes and sat down on the bed as I dried my hair with a towel. Looking out the window, I could see the rain splattering across the glass.  
I sighed and leaned back against the pillow and starred at the ceiling. Even I could tell you that I was probably over reacting to what had happened, but for some reason, I couldn't help it. I didn't feel like I was in control of anything around me anymore, and I hated it; I hated the feeling of not being able to control anything.  
A knock on my door pulled my eyes away from the ceiling, and I watched as Buck slowly opened the door and poked his head in to check on me.  
"You OK, Mia?" He asked. I nodded and for the first time felt the tears on my cheeks. With a sigh, I wiped them away.  
"I'm fine." I said as I pulled my knees up to my chest.  
"You don't look fine." I looked up at the new voice to see Sodapop standing in doorway. He looked tired, like he hadn't been sleeping, or eating the way his shirt seemed to be hanging off him slightly. I smiled a little as he came over and sat down beside me on the bed. "What are you doing here?" I asked as I gave him a hug.  
"Wondering if you're OK?" He said quietly as he wrapped me up tight. I bit my lip and shut my eyes tight against the tears, hugging him tightly.  
"You know I'm fine, Soda." I said once I knew I wasn't going to choke on my tears. I pulled back and saw the look in his eyes that told me that he knew I was lying.  
"How's Ponyboy?" I asked quickly. He raised an eyebrow at my change of subject, but didn't push it.  
"He's taking this pretty badly." He said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's like he's pulled into himself and won't let anyone help him. It's kind of scary." I sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the drawer of the nightstand. I was surprised that he took one when I offered.  
"It's going to take him a while." I said as I lit them. I took a long drag and held it for a moment before letting it go.  
"I guess." Soda said as he watched the smoke curl up to the ceiling. "But I hope it doesn't take too much longer. He's acting really weird an saying he killed the kid, not Johnny." We were quiet for a while, watching the smoke fill the room.  
"The court date is coming up soon." Soda said quietly. "Are you going to come?" I sighed and looked around.  
"When is it?" I asked.  
"This Thursday." I shrugged.  
"Yea, I'll probably go. Buck is opening the bar on Wednesday, so I'll be a little busy, but I'm sure I can make it there." Soda nodded and put the end of his cigarette out in the ashtray. I saw the look in his eyes as he sat there starring at his hands. I finished my cigarette and put it out before moving a little closer to him.  
"So how are you doing? Have you heard from her at all?" I hated to bring Sandy up so soon after she left town, but he looked so down.  
"No. I sent her a letter, but I haven't gotten a response." He looked ready to cry. "I miss her." I bit my lip. Sandy had been a nice girl; I'd hung out with her and Evie a lot when Dally, Steve and Soda took us all to the game. But I'd always had an off feeling about her. Now I knew why, there were very few girls around this side of town that didn't sleep around a little- I did, though that was back before Dally and I started dating.  
"You know what I think Soda?" I asked as I crossed my legs beside him. He looked up at me, and I gave him a small smile. "I think that any girl who would walk away from a guy like you is off their rocker. You're everything a girl could possibly want; you're even kinda cute." He chuckled and stood up.  
"Thanks, Mia." He said. He stopped and turned around to look at me halfway to the door. "I wish there was something I could do for you." I smirked.  
"You've helped enough, Soda." I said softly. He smiled and nodded a little before walking out the door, calling bye over his shoulder as he went down the stairs. I stood up and walked to the door to call bye down to him before I closed the door and walked back over to my bed. I really was tired, and all I wanted to do was collapse in the bed and go back to sleep. But something caught my eye in the corner of the room. I starred at it for a moment before smiling and fishing around in the nightstand for some paper and a pencil.

_Yes I made a mistake.  
I thought that you would be mine.  
Guess the joke was on me.  
I miss you so bad, I can't sleep.  
_XXX

Hope y'all like it! :)

~Stay Gold!


	14. Chapter 14: Surprise

A/N: Hey! Look it's a speedy update! Yeah! :) I know the song doesn't really seem to go with the story, but it's on of those ones that you have to kind of think about to understand the meaning and how they connect... Or you happen to have a brain like mind that thinks this song fits with the chapter, when really, it has no connection whatsoever. :) Enjoy!  
Merry go round by Kacey Musgraves

XXX  
_Just like dust, we settle in this town.  
On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go  
Where it stops nobody knows and it ain't slowin' down.  
This merry go 'round.  
_  
By Thursday, I was better then I'd been in a week. I'd managed to get a few nights sleep without nightmares, and I'd gone to the cleaners with a a bag of clothes that needed to be cleaned. I had also started going through Dally's clothes, but I couldn't bring myself to throw away any of his stuff, not yet anyway.  
To top all that off, Buck had opened the bar, and everyone seemed happy with it. Once it got going, Buck said I could work behind the bar whenever I felt like it, but I'd have a part time job of keeping up the books and keeping inventory. Math wasn't my strong subject, but I was good with some stuff.  
But by the time I was sitting in the car with Two- Bit- who'd offered to drive me to the trial- I was a mess. I was wringing my hands and my hair that I'd washed, dried and clean this morning was all over the place from me running my hands through it.  
"Calm down, Mia." Two- Bit said. "You look like you got hit by a tornado." I glared at him when he started to laugh.  
"Very funny, Two." I said. "But this is no laughing matter. What if the court splits them up?" Two- Bit stopped laughing, and looked at me with a half serious look.  
"They're not going to split them up, Mia. You know that as well as I do. They know that if they split them up, there's going to be trouble." I sighed and leaned against the window.  
"I guess you're right." I said as we pulled up to the Justice Building. Two- Bit parked the car and we walked in to find everyone outside the courtroom doors.  
"Hey, Mia." Ponyboy said as I walked up. I smiled and gave him a hug. I hadn't seen him since he woke up that day, he hadn't been to the funeral and I hadn't gone over to their place any time after that.  
"Hey, Pony. How ya doin'?" I asked. He shrugged and looked at his hands.  
"OK, I guess." He mumbled. I could tell he wasn't really feeling well, and from the way he was shaking, I could tell he wanted a cigarette. Too bad the court didn't allow smoking.  
"It's going to be fine." I told him as a judge walked through the doors, followed by a security guard who said that the trial would be starting in a few minutes. Darry, Soda and Pony stood up. Steve, Two- Bit and I would be waiting outside for the trial to end. I think if I'd gone in and seen all the Socs who had something to do with all this, I'd end up in a holding cell for causing a disturbance.  
"Good luck." I said before the three of them disappeared through the doors. I turned to Steve and Two- Bit. "So whatcha wanna do now?"

XXX

The trial seemed to go on forever, and I got hungry halfway through, so Steve, Two- Bit and I went out for lunch at a small diner close to the building.  
"So what have you been up to, Mia?" Steve asked as we waited for our order. I shrugged.  
"Nothing much. I've slept a lot, and I picked my guitar up again the other day." Both boys looked shocked. I hadn't played my guitar for years; I hadn't even mentioned it for a long time.  
"Cool, still remember how to play." Two- Bit teased as food appeared at the table. I stuck my tongue out at him and munched on some fries.  
"Yea, I still know how to play. I've started writing my own song too." I paused. "Tim took me out for lunch a few days ago too." This shocked them more then the guitar thing.  
"Really?" Two- Bit asked. "And how was that?" I stirred my milkshake with my straw.  
"It was good. Though service at the Dingo was pathetic as usual, so after we ate there we went to this other place that he knew about and ate there." I left out the part about falling asleep under the stars, that wouldn't do his reputation any good.  
"Sounds like fun." Steve said as he finished off his burger and munched on some fries.  
"Yea." I muttered absently as I slurped on my drink. "Lots of fun."

XXX

We finished up and paid before walking out the door and driving back to the court house. As I got out of the car, I could have sworn I saw Tim's car parked across the street, I blinked and shook my head before looking again, but there was nothing there.  
"Come on, Mia." Steve called from the steps. I looked again to make sure I was really seeing things before making my way up the steps and back into the building.

XXX

It was another hour and a half before the trial ended. When the doors opened, I bolted up from my seat where I'd been ripping at the corners of a brochure I'd taken off the wall.  
"Well?" I asked when Darry, Soda and Ponyboy walked out. "What'd they say?" Darry smiled, and relief flooded through me.  
"I got custody." He said and we all crowded in for a hug. I smiled widely as everyone pulled away and I looked at Ponyboy who looked happy, but in a more detached way.  
"So I'm guessing that they said Johnny was non- guilty?" I asked slowly. Darry nodded as we made our way out to the cars.  
"Yea. Basically everyone pointed the blame at that Bob kid." Soda said. I nodded and leaned against the car for a moment as we all stood for a moment around the cars. I sighed and turned to Two- Bit who'd just pulled out his lighter to light the cigarette hanging from his lips.  
"We need to go, Two." I smirked when he gave me a look of irritation at just being informed of this. "I gotta be to Buck's for 7. I told him I would work for pay every Thursday."  
"Why don't you just ask for pay every time you work?" Steve asked as he blew smoke out, attempting to create a perfect circle.  
"Cause it's like charity work on other days. He'll still pay me for some days I work behind the bar, but my main job is the book keeper person. So hurry up, cause I gotta go." Two- Bit rolled his eyes and took one last drag before crushing the end into the ground. "Catch ya later guys." I said as I opened the passenger side door and ducked into the car. It started with a clattering noise and I looked over at Two- Bit.  
"You need to get this car fixed." I said. He raised an eyebrow at me.  
"If you want to give me some money to pay for a fix, I'd gladly take it." He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes.  
"You need a job." I said, and I knew what his response would be before it left his mouth  
"No way. It'd ruin my rep!"  
"What rep?" I asked. I returned his glare with a smirk.

XXX

"Hey, Dennis." I said as I filled a shot glass with whiskey and passed it to the made sitting at the bar. "How are you doin'?" The man threw back the glass and let out a sigh when it was gone.  
"Horrible." He said as I passed him a beer. "I got a draft note this afternoon. They're sending me over to 'Nam in seven months. I got for training in 5." I grimaced as I collected money from a couple on their way out the door.  
"That's horrible." I said before grabbing the tray of drinks I'd set down to take over to a table.  
Dennis was 25 years old and had been a regular since way back. He was too young to be going off into that jungle over on the other side of the world. Lots of our boys had died already over there.  
"Sorry for the delay." I apologized to the small group of people sitting at a table. They all just shrugged their shoulders and took the drinks from the tray.  
I liked this better then what it use to be. Buck's use to be just a bunch of crazy party people, but now it was a little mellower, and I'd convinced Buck to put some good music on the stereo instead of just Hank Williams.  
"Hey Mia, can I have a beer?" I turned away from where I'd been getting another round of drinks ready for another table to look at Buck.  
"I thought we'd agreed that you wouldn't get drunk." He rolled his eyes.  
"I don't get drunk off one beer." He said. I sighed and grabbed one, not bothering to pop the top off it for him.  
"Nice service." He mumbled, and I grinned.  
"Service with a smile." He shook his head and walked away to the poker table that was set up in the other room.  
I snickered under my breath as I turned back around to finish pouring the drinks.  
"Anyway I can get a beer around here?" I rolled my eyes and continued to pour the drinks. Some people were just so impatient.  
"Just give me a minu-" I turned around and stopped mid sentence at who I saw standing on the other side of the bar, a sly smirk plaster across his face. I scowled and turned back around to grab the tray. "On second thought, I'll get Becky to help you." I waved a girl over that was wiping off a table and headed off to deliver the drinks.  
"Come on, Mia." He said as he followed me over. "You can't honestly still be mad about the other day."  
"And what if I am still upset?" I asked as I placed the drinks down on the table and headed back for the bar. "It isn't any of your business if I am or not, Tim. So just leave me alone." He rolled his eyes as he sat down on one of the stools and Becky came over to open a beer for him while I wiped the counter off.  
"Considering it involves me, I think it is my business." He said as he drank. I stood silently as I wiped at the counter some more, even though it was extremely clean already from me constantly wiping at it.  
I heard Tim sigh and set his drink down.  
"Come on, Mia. You know I didn't mean for it to sound so bad." I glared at him as I leaned back against the counter behind the bar.  
"Well, you certainly didn't try to make it better." I hissed.  
"I tried to say I was sorry!" He said in defence. "I don't know what more you could want. Not like I said anything that rude." I rolled my eyes and poured a shot for another guy who came up to the bar.  
"You don't get girls at all do you, Tim?" I asked as I leaned forward.  
"Oh, and Winston was an expert." I narrowed my eyes.  
"He was better then you."  
"He was better then me with _you_." Tim corrected and leaned forward so that we were about an inch apart from each other. "He had years to get to know you. Of course he was an expert with you. I haven't had that much time with you." I smirked and pulled back to collect the money from a young guy who looked like he'd had just a little too much to drink.  
"And what makes you think that you'll get anymore then you've already had lately?" Tim shrugged and continued to put a dent in his beer. I sighed and pulled a beer out for myself.  
"So are you busy right now?" Tim asked. I shrugged and looked at the clock.  
"Buck said I could stop working whenever I wanted, I just gotta tell him and write down my hours." I stopped and narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "Why?" I asked as I brought the beer bottle to my lips.  
"Just wondering if you'd like to dance?" I choked on my beer. Now that I hadn't seen coming.

_We think the first time's good enough.  
So, we hold on to high school love.  
Sayin' we won't end up like our parents._

XXX

I'm getting into this whole cliff-hanger thing. :) Hope you liked that chapter, it was longer then most I think.  
I'd really like at least 2 reviews before I post another chapter! Please!  
~Stay Gold!


	15. Chapter 15: Confess

A/N: I know I said I'd wait for 2 reviews, but I wanted to post this chapter so bad! Call it a weakness that I can't stop from posting once I'm done typing a chapter up. :)  
So this story has two songs in it (I'm sure you can all guess why). I tried to keep it in the 80's, or earlier because the movie was filmed in '83. It just gives me a wider song selection. I know the song is from after 1983, but it's still from the 80's time period. Hope everyone likes it! :)  
_You're the inspiration_ by _Chicago_  
_Bleeding love_ by _Leona Lewis_  
XXX

_Closed off from love, I didn't need the pain  
Once or twice was enough and it was all in vain  
Time starts to pass, before you know it you're frozen  
_  
I starred at him for a moment before quickly turning around to grab the rag I used to clean the counter. I wiped the beer that I'd choked on away with a quick swipe.  
"Could you repeat that?" I asked. I was sure that I was hearing things. Tim rolled his eyes.  
"I asked if you'd like to dance." He said. I starred at him completely stunned.  
There were a few people dancing, most just couples, but it looked more crowded from the lack of space.  
"Maybe later, Tim." I said as I bit the inside of my lip. I still wasn't happy about his comments from earlier in the week.  
"Oh don't be such a stick in the mud, Mia." Tim said. "Unless you're scared." I glared at him.  
"Scared of what?"  
"That I can out dance you." I scoffed.  
"As if. In New York, there was a club that the gang would go to all the time. I could out dance everyone there." That was an exaggeration, but he didn't need to know that.  
"Prove it." Tim said with a smirk. I glared and undid the apron that I had tied around my waist to keep my pants somewhat clean.  
"Fine, give me a minute." I walked around the bar and over to Buck who was focused on his hand. Looking over his shoulder, I managed to suppress a laugh at how bad it was; junk.  
"I'm taking the rest of the night off, Buck." He looked up at the clock.  
"That wasn't full working hours, Mia." I rolled my eyes and rested my hands on the back of his chair.  
"You said I didn't need to work the full time, as long as I made up for it at some point." Buck sighed and nodded.  
"Fine, you can work tomorrow or something. What are you doing know then?"  
"Tim says I can't dance." Buck looked up at me with raised eyebrows.  
"Really?" He sounded surprised. "Well then, have fun." I nodded and walked over to where Tim had just finished his drink.  
"So?"  
"So it's time for you to eat your words." I said as we walked over to the dance floor. But just as I was about to change the song for something with a better beat, Buck beat me to the stereo and popped on a record.  
"What are you doing?" I asked suspiciously. He just grinned and walked back to the poker table. I opened my mouth to yell after him, but a slow song came on and I realized it'd been a trap. Why did I think that? I don't know; leftover New York instincts I guess.  
I felt a hand tug at mine, and turned to see Tim grinning like crazy.  
"You set me up." I said as I glared at him. His grin slid into a smirk, giving me my answer. "Why?" He shrugged as I felt his hand on the small of my back and his other held my hand. I looked down at his arm around my waist, and then glanced up at him before sighing and I rested my other hand on his shoulder.  
"I figured you'd say no if I asked you straight out- which you did." He said in reply to my question. "So I sneaked around asking." I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. To tell you the truth, I wasn't all that upset and for some reason, I felt happy.  
Before I knew it, I'd moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest; I could hear the steady beat of his heart and felt myself relaxing.  
I listened as _Chicago_'s song _You're the Inspiration_ sounded throughout the space, and watched as a few couples danced. One guy whispered in his girl's ear and she giggled. Dally took me dancing a few times- formal dancing, not the rowdy dance parties. Those moments when I could forget that everyone thought he was a JD, were some of the best moments in my life. We'd danced to this song a few times, one time he said that it was our song. I'd told him he was being sappy and he'd shrugged his shoulders before pulling me close for another dance.  
As the song came to an end, I brought myself out of my thoughts of better times, and back to the present moment.  
"See, that wasn't _so bad_, was it?" Tim asked as we broke apart and walked back to the counter. I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth and shook m head; but something was bubbling in my stomach that didn't match it. I felt a jolt of panic, though I didn't know from where. All I knew was that I needed space.  
"I need to go out for a moment." I said as calmly as I could. Before Tim could say anything else, I'd made my way to the door, grabbing the keys from their place on a hook as I went. During business hours and until everything was cleaned up, I always wore my sneakers.  
I thought I heard Tim calling after me, but I dismissed it as my brain hearing things.  
I opened the door to Buck's car and ducked inside; turning the key in the ignition, I backed out of the parking lot and turned down the road.  
I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and by the time I realized where I was, I was looking at the entrance to the cemetery. I starred at it for a while before I climbed out of the car and walked inside.  
It was quiet, cold and dark. Rain clouds were covering the stars again tonight, and the only sound was the leaves that crunched under my feet. I was thankful that the bar had been chilly from the door opening and closing because I was wearing my sweater already.  
I stopped when I arrived at the two headstones that stood in the back right corner of the large space. Tears priced at my eyes and I slowly sank to my knees.  
"Why are you doing this to me?" I asked Dally's headstone. "Why are making life so hard?" A gust of wind blew from behind me and I felt the first drops of rain. I took deep breaths and tried to stop the tears. "Can't you just cut me a break, Dal? What'd I do to you to make you want to drive me around like this?"  
"I don't think he's going to be answering your questions, Mia." I held my breath for a moment and kept still before turning to look up at him. His face was dark, save the red glow cast by his cigarette.  
"How'd you find me so fast?" I asked quietly. All the fight was out of me now, and all I could do was sit there.  
"I figured you'd come here the way you ran out the door. I don't figure you're going to tell me what the sudden freak out was for, are you?" I sighed as I stood up and leaned against Dally's stone.  
"I don't really know."  
"Oh come on, you don't just run out the door like that and not know why." I gripped tightly to the granite and gritted my teeth together.  
"Can't you just leave me alone?" I asked as I turned around to face him. "Why are being like this to me?! Where you waiting for something to happen to Dally so you could move in on me?!" Tim stomped out his cigarette under his shoe and grabbed hold of my arm. I tried to squirm out of his grasp, but it was just too tight.  
He pulled me over to the single street lamp that hung over the pathway through the cemetery a ways off to the side (where the people with money were buried). When we were standing directly under it, I was able to see him better. His hair was wet from the rain, and it stuck to his face, his eyes were dark with anger and the rest of his face showed no expression; and he still had a grip on my arm.  
"Let go of my arm." I said through my teeth. He let go, but continued to look down at me.  
"You really want to know why I've been doing this for you?" He asked. I nodded and crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the pole.  
"It's because Dallas told me to." I stopped breathing for a moment and starred at him.  
"What?" I asked once I was breathing again. Tim sighed and shifted his feet.  
"A while back we were hanging out after he got out of the cooler and we made a deal. If something ever happened to him, I promised him I'd watch out for you; so he promised that if anything ever happened to me, he'd look after Angel and Curly." I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"That's a one sided deal. I don't think Dally would have agreed to something like that." Tim just looked at me.  
"He was the one who brought up the idea. Said he didn't want anything to happen to you because you're so special or something like that, I'm pretty sure he was off his rocker drunk by that point." I nodded. Dally had had a tendency to be a little more emotional when he was drunk; whether it was an angry emotion or a sappy emotion, that all depended on the reason he was drinking; if it was just to drink, you could never tell, if it was after a fight, you could guess that he'd have a negative reaction to the alcohol.  
I suddenly remembered that I'd thought I'd seen his car at the court house earlier that day.  
"Have you been following me?" I asked. Tim shook his head.  
"Nah, that wasn't in the deal. All I gotta do is make sure you stay OK. Though I did drive over to the court house today to make sure you weren't crying by the car or something." I rolled my eyes and stood up straight.  
"Well thanks for that info, Tim. But I think I can look after myself just fine." I started to walk away, but he stopped me but grabbing hold of my arm again, not tightly, but enough to stop me.  
"Listen," He said sternly. "I know you're tryin to act like the big girl who don't cry over nothin. But I'm not goin to stop checking in on you just because you think you're fine. Dally was my friend too, and this was his last request from me, I don't plan on breaking it just cause you think you can look after yourself." I glared up at him, trying to make him back down, but he held my gaze. Finally I sighed and pulled my arm away.  
"Fine. You can do the whole check in thing, but I'd rather you not follow me around like a shadow all the time. I CAN take care of myself." Tim shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket.  
"Fair enough. As long as I can take you out to lunch once and a while." I sighed in mock frustration.  
"Whatever. Gosh, I didn't know you could be such a softy." He smirked.  
"There's lots of things about me that you don't know about, sweetheart." He said. Before I could stop him, he leaned down (due to the small height difference) and kissed my cheek before walking off back to the parking lot.  
It was still raining as I stood under the street lamp in the cemetery. I blinked a few times and touched my cheek where it was tingling. I couldn't even feel the rain as it fell around me, soaking my sweater once again. All I could do was stand there watching as his headlights disappeared down the street, and think that this probably wasn't going to end well.

_But nothing's greater than the rush that comes with your embrace  
And in this world of loneliness I see your face  
Yet everyone around me thinks that I'm going crazy  
_  
XXX

Oh, first kiss... Will there be more? :) I hope you all enjoyed that chapter, the next one I'm hoping is going to start the main part of the story. If it doesn't, then it'll be a chapter or so after it, but it's not far away. :)  
Reviews are awesome!

~Stay Gold!


	16. Chapter 16: Time for change

A/N: This chapter is going to be a little different. It'll be in Mia's POV. for the first half, then it'll change to someone else's thoughts. I know it's weird but I thought it'd be kind of cool for it to not be all from Mia's perspective.

_Glass_ by Thompson Square

XXX

_Trying to live and love,  
With a heart that can't be broken,  
Is like trying to see the light with eyes that can't be opened.  
Yeah, we both carry baggage,  
We picked up on our way  
_  
The next week was a lot calmer then the weeks before. After Tim had told me about the deal he and Dally had, things smoothed out a little and it wasn't as awkward. I learned that when he said we'd go out for lunch one and a while, he meant every other day. But we rarely went to the Dingo. We saved our time and just went to Billy's. His prices were cheaper then the Dingo anyway.  
He'd show up just before lunch and we'd drive down the dirt road, Billy would grin and cook the same thing he had the first time we'd showed up. While we waited, we'd sit and talk. We told stories about our favourite moments with gangs, and laugh over the stupid things we did just because we thought we could. Then we'd sit and eat before heading back into town, going our own ways to do whatever we had to get done before the next day. But even though things were better then they had been, I couldn't get the picture of him leaning down to kiss me out of my head.

XXX

"Can I talk to you, Mia?" I looked up from where I was playing poker with Steve and Soda to see Ponyboy standing beside me.  
"Sure, just let me finish this game." He nodded and walked away. I watched him go for a second before turning back to my hand.  
Ponyboy had been a mess since after the trial, the other day he came home without his sneakers on his feet after school. It wasn't until someone pointed it out to him that he looked down and noticed. I was worried about him, but at this point I couldn't do much about it.  
"Ha!" Steve shouted as he laid out his cards on the table. "Flush! Bet that!" I smirked and laid out my cards, laughing at his and Soda's faces.  
"Royal flush." I said and grabbed the few bills sitting in the middle of the table. As I walked away, I thought I heard Steve mumble something about cheating. I smirked and entered the living room where Ponyboy was sitting on the couch starring at the floor. I raised an eyebrow as I sat down beside him.  
"What's up with you, Ponyboy?" I asked. He looked up at me and I didn't like to see that much sadness in them.  
"I opened my Gone with the Wind book last night." He said softly. I bit my lip and ran my hand over his hair; the tips were still blond, but the reddish color was coming back as it grew out. "And I found a note inside it." I raise an eyebrow at him as he continued to stare down at the floor.  
"Really?" I asked. He nodded and stood up, grabbed my hand and pulled me up to the bedroom he shared with Sodapop. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around at the few posters on the walls.  
"Here." I looked at the paper Pony was holding out to me. I took it and started to read the messy scribbles that could only be Johnny's writing. I started to get tears in my eyes when he talked about telling Dally that there was good in the world, and I smiled when he asked to get Dally to watch a sunset.  
"What am I going to do?" I looked up once I was done reading to see Ponyboy looking depressed.  
"About what?" I asked as I handed him the letter.  
"About what he asked about getting Dally to watch a sunset? Dally ain't here. I feel awful about not doing something Johnny asked." I saw tears leak from his eyes and pulled him into a hug.  
I rocked him gently back and forth as he sobbed. I felt awful for him. Johnny had been one of the few people he talked to about anything- except Soda of course. Now here he was, crying like a baby because a bunch of people had the money to bail themselves out of trouble, while we had to take what we got and hope it was enough to keep going. This wasn't fair, not to Ponyboy, not to Darry and Soda, not to any of us. I'd had enough of this; I couldn't stand to watch Pony waste away his life because he couldn't coup with his friends dying.  
The rumble with the Socs wasn't going to last forever, soon enough they'd be coming back to cause more trouble. That's the problem with this situation, it's all most of us have ever known; the constant hate and the never ending cycle of revenge. Wed grown up on it, and it wasn't something that was going to go away with one fight.  
An idea popped into my head and I realized that it was time to finish this, to make the Socs realize that Greasers were just as human as they thought they were. It was time to even out the board and loop through the last cycle of revenge.  
"Ponyboy?" I gave his shoulder a gentle shake to get him to look up at me. "I'm going to make this better, OK?" He looked at me.  
"How?" I smiled and ruffled his hair a little before standing up.  
"I got an idea in mind. But it's going to take some time to put it together." I turned and walked out the door. As I came down the stairs, Two- Bit walked in and grinned.  
"Hiya, Mia." He said. "Where ya goin?" I shoved my feet into my shoes and took my sweater from the hook.  
"Out. I'll see you guys later." I said as I walked out the door. I'd need to go to Buck's to grab a few things before leaving. I already had his car; it was too cold to walk around anymore. I smiled to myself as I pulled away from the Curtis' house. This was going to end soon, and I was going to end it.

XXX  
Tim's POV.

I sighed as I drove to Buck's. I was on my way over to pick up Mia for lunch. I didn't know why I was doing all this; it wasn't part of the deal I'd made with Dally. Yet I couldn't help but want to spend time with her.  
I shook my head as I pulled up to Buck's place. I turned off the car and opened the door. I noticed the car was missing, but didn't think hard about it.  
I climbed up the stairs to the front door and opened it without bothering to knock.  
"Hello?" I called out through the house. It was surprising quiet for the place being opened. Buck came down the stairs.  
"Hey, Tim." He said. "What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Buck wasn't the smartest guy I'd ever met, but I'd thought by now he'd have caught onto the pattern.  
"I came to get Mia so we could go for lunch." I said as I sat down on one of the bar stools. "Is she going to be long, cause I'm starving?" Buck looked surprised as he stood at the bottom of the stairs.  
"Mia left about an hour ago saying she was going to meet you wherever it is you guys go for lunch." It was my turn to be surprised.  
"No. We never made plans to meet there. I always come to pick her up." Buck shrugged and walked into the kitchen.  
"I don't know where she is then." I sighed and walked back out the door to my car. Where the hell could she have gone? She would have said she was going over to the Curtis' house if that had been where she was going, but she'd said she was meeting me for lunch.  
"Hey Tim." I hadn't realized I was standing beside my car for the past minute contemplating where Mia could have gone; and I turned to see Buck standing in the doorway.  
"What?" I asked as I pulled a cigarette from my half empty pack and lit it.  
"Are you planning on sticking around?" I raised an eyebrow and Buck rolled his eyes. "Are you planning on sticking around with Mia?" I thought for a second then shrugged. Buck smirked. "Good luck if you do stay." He walked back inside and left me wondering what he was talking about. Good luck? Good luck for what?  
I sighed and opened the driver's door and slid in. I guess lunch would have to wait for another day.

XXX

A week later, Mia showed up at my front door, looking happier then I'd seen her in awhile.  
"Where ya been?" I asked as we walked to my car to go get lunch. She shrugged and looked out the window with a smile on her face.  
"Went for a little trip." She said. "Had some people I hadn't seen in a long time that I wanted to catch up with."  
"You went all the way to New York?" I asked. It was the only place she'd ever talked about having family and friends beside here in Tulsa.  
She looked over at me, and I knew I was right.  
"Yes," She said after a moment. "I did go to New York. I had to tell everyone about Dally." She was quiet for a moment. "I found out my dad's in prison for abuse. Someone finally made a complaint about it. Dally's old man's dead from an overdose on something. I can't remember what they said it was, but it was some bad stuff." I looked over at her as we pulled onto the dirt road. She didn't looked like she was upset over any of the info she'd gotten, but she didn't look happy about it either.  
"That's a good thing- your old man being in jail I mean." She smirked and nodded.  
"Yea, but it happened a bit late." She paused and shook her head. "No. I'm glad it happened now and not back then. I woulda been put in a girl's home or something." I snorted. Mia in a girl's home wouldn't be a good thing.  
"That'd be something to see." I said as we pulled up to the trailer. "How hungry are you?" She licked her lips.  
"Starving! I forgot how hard it was to get good food around the city with those boys around you. All I've had are burgers literally dripping grease." I made a face at the thought as we walked up to the trailer and Billy saw us.  
"That's disgusting." I said. I loved burgers and stuff, but that was a bit of over kill having them dripping grease.  
"You're telling me. I'm ready for some real food now." Mia said as she leaned against the trailer while Billy got her a bottle of water. Once she had it, she walked over to one of the picnic tables off to the side and sat on it.  
I watched her sip at the water and wondered why she'd gone to New York. It couldn't just be Dally's death; she would have gone sooner then now if it was that. No, she had something planned. But what?

_We may shine, we may shatter,  
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,  
We are fragile, we are human,  
We are shaped by the light we let through us,  
We break fast, cause we are glass._  
XXX

Sorry for the long wait! I had this chapter started way back when I posted the other chapters, but then I lost my thought for it and just didn't do much with it.  
Also, I have an idea for another story. I was thinking about doing The Outsiders from Mia's point of view. What'd you guys think? Good idea or should I scratch it? I still need to finish Dancing Across the Sky, plus I have an idea for a sequel to this story. *sigh* Too many ideas! Anyway, what do you guys think about that? I'd love to get some feedback.  
Please review!

~Stay Gold!


	17. Chapter 17: Kick start

A/N: This chapter will introduced a few new characters. Hope you like it!

_Teenagers_ by My Chemical Romance

XXX

_They say that teenagers scare the living shit out of me  
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed  
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose  
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me_

The fall slowly turned into winter. A very cold winter. At one point, Buck forgot to pay the bill for the heat, and it was freezing for the few days until it came back on.  
Tim and I kept going out for lunch, though not at Billy's. He apparently had family down in Florida, so he went there for the better part of the winter- lucky guy. But since he wasn't around, we had to go to the Dingo. It was lucky that the girl seemed to have left, cause she was never around whenever we were there. I also picked up another job; bar tending at Buck's. Now I had a part time job, not a come and go as I wanted one. I still helped with the inventory and money and stuff, but I needed more cash then what I was getting from that.  
But back to Tim. Though I hate to say it, we were getting closer then I thought I'd ever get to anyone besides Dally. It wasn't obvious at first, but I slowly started to see a change in the way we interacted with each other. He'd come over and bring me a gift (cigarettes mostly) and I'd call him whenever I knew he was coming over if I needed something from the store. It felt weird when I realized what was going on, but I never did anything to stop it.  
So now spring was around the corner, and I was starting to feel a little anxious. I hadn't told anyone about why I'd gone to New York, or about the plan I had cooked up to get back at the Socs for Dally dying.  
The Socs stayed away for the most part, but every once and a while they'd jump someone. There was also a stretch of land about a mile or so long between our side of town and theirs. It reminded me of no man's land from WW1. Just and large space of open land, where most of the fights took place. Cause now, instead of the lot, if we wanted to fight, everyone gathered up there. But that was about to change.

XXX

"Do you do anything but sleep, Mia?" I groaned and peeked out from under my pillow at Tim standing in the doorway of my room.  
"For your information, yes, I do." I sat up but groaned again and fell back down. "I think I'm getting sick or something." I closed my eyes and heard Tim's footsteps as he came over to the side of the bed. He pressed his hand to my forehead and I relished the coolness against my skin.  
"I think you're just being a pussy." Tim said as he stepped back. "You're fine." I opened one eye and looked up at him standing beside the bed.  
"I'm sure that if I was lying here on my death bed, you'd say the exact same thing." Tim laughed and walked towards the door.  
"Probably. Now hurry up, I'm hungry." I looked over at the clock and saw that it was 10 in the morning.  
"Is he ever _not_ hungry?" I asked myself as I got out of bed. I pulled clothes off the back of the chair in the room and from my dresser. I went to the washroom to have a shower and get changed before taking a Motrin to help my headache. I jogged down the stairs and over to the door where Tim was waiting for me.  
"Took you long enough." He said. I rolled my eyes and pulled on my boots.  
"I'm sorry, your majesty." I said sarcastically. "I'll just trip down the stairs next time to arrive at your feet sooner." Tim smirked.  
"Now you get the idea." I aimed a slap to his head, but he blocked it and shook a finger at me.  
"Now, now. That's no way to treat royalty." I made a face at him before calling to Buck that I was leaving.  
"If you're royalty, then I must be that girl in Little Darlings who gets to kiss that really cute guy. What's his name- Matt Dillon." Tim looked at me like I was crazy as we drove down the road to the Dingo.  
"You honestly think that guy is cute?" I smiled and nodded.  
"Obviously. The only other words to describe him by are smoking hot. Plus he's a really good actor too. He's in that movie _My Bodyguard_. I think they're playing it at the drive-in this weekend." Tim raised an eyebrow at me and I returned in, hopping my eyes looked innocent enough. Eventually he sighed and turned into the parking lot of the Dingo.  
"I may or may not be busy this weekend. If I'm not, I guess we can go." I smirked and got out of the car.  
"I figured you'd say yes." Tim rolled his eyes and opened the door.  
"Why, I'll never know. You'll make me spend all that money on drinks and popcorn, when I already spend so much money on these lunches for you."  
"Well, it's not a movie without popcorn." I said as we slide into a booth. Tim nodded his head in agreement and we waited for someone to come get our order.

XXX

"Do you want to go back to Buck's, or over to the Curtis'?" Tim asked as we walked out of the diner and towards his car. I shrugged.  
"Back to Buck's I guess. I need to clean my room." I made a face at the thought and Tim chuckled.  
"I never thought you were the organized type." I laughed at the thought.  
"I'm not organized, but the room is starting to get messy, even for me." Tim shook his head.  
"I just don't care about my room. If it gets messy, well then it gets messy." I rolled my eyes and rolled down the window. The air was warming up and it was refreshing to be able to open them.  
"That's what Dally was like." I said. I was finding it easier over time to talk about Dal without breaking into tears. "Come to think of it, a lot of guys I know are like that." Tim shook his head as we turned the corner towards Buck's.  
As we arrived at Buck's, I spotted two vehicles in the yard that weren't normally there.  
"Who's here?" Tim asked as we pulled up and got out of the car. I was about to answer with an _I don't know_, when the door to the house opened and a group of people walked out and I gaped at them.  
"You said to come when it was spring." The one in front said with a smirk as I stood there gapping at them. "Close your mouth, Mia. You could catch flies with that thing." I close my mouth and walked over to the group of boys.  
"When I said spring, I meant closer to summer." I said as I walked up and shook hands with him. "You should know that." The guy rolled his eyes and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket.  
"Figured we'd come a little early, ya know, to catch up." I gave him a smile.  
"So who are all these guys, Mia?" I turned around to see Tim leaning against his car.  
"Oh, sorry Tim. Forgot you were there." He rolled his eyes. "This is Liam." I pointed at the guy I'd been talking to. "He was one of the guys in the gang in New York. Liam, this is Tim Shepard. He was a friend of Dal's." Liam stepped forward to shake Tim's hand.  
"Pleasure to meet you." He said. Tim nodded his head.  
"Likewise." I rolled my eyes.  
"You guys are weird." I said. "OK Tim; this is Tyler, Justin, Dustin, Josh, Jason, Wes, and Dylan." I point out the boys who stepped up a bit. Tim nodded at each of them. "The rest of these boys have drifted in and out of the gang for years. Though half of them I don't know from those good old days." Liam laughed.  
"The good old days were rough days." He said. I nodded.  
"Yea, well. The days never got any better." I ran my hand back through my hair. "So have you guys eaten anything lately?" Liam shook his head.  
"We kind of booked it down here." I rolled my eyes.  
"OK, fine. I'll go get some food." I started to head into the house to grab the keys to Buck's car, but Tim stopped me.  
"I'll take you down to the store." He said and opened his door. I walked around to the passenger side and climbed in.  
"Why are all those guys here in Tulsa, from New York?" He said as soon as we were on the road again.  
"Can't I have some friends over?" I asked. I didn't want him to know about anything yet.  
"You gave yourself away when you said you didn't know half them. Why are they here?" I looked out the window. "Well?" I sighed and looked over at him.  
"You're right," I said. "I didn't bring them here for just a visit." Tim scoffed.  
"Tell me something I haven't figured out yet." I growled.  
"OK, I brought them here for a real reason, though they've arrived earlier then I expected."  
"And that reason would be?"  
"I'm planning to get back at the Socs." I said bluntly. "I needed some back up, so I went to the guys who I knew would be willing to help." I opened the door of the car once Tim was parked and stepped out. I leaned against the door and peered in at Tim. "I've paid for Dally dying. I've paid with everything I've got. It's time for someone else to take the fall." I slammed the door shut and walked into the store.

_The boys and girls in the clique  
The awful names that they stick  
You're never gonna fit in much, kid  
But if you're troubled and hurt  
What you got under your shirt  
We'll make them pay for the things that they did_  
XXX

So the fun begins! :) Hope y'all liked it!

~Stay Gold!


	18. Chapter 18: Start of something new

A/N: This will be from. Tim's POV.

_Falling for you_ by Nick Howard  
XXX

_I start to think about the way you make me smile  
Like pictures in my mind I hold them for a while  
I'm thinking to myself yes I'm a lucky man  
I don't believe in fairytales but this time around I can  
_  
The light coming through the window beside my bed hit me right in the eyes. I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in my pillow. The quick glance that I took at the clock beside the bed told me that it was 10:45 am, and for a moment I thought about getting up to pick Mia up for lunch. But then I remembered the house full of boys she had over at Buck's and sneered into the pillow.  
I wasn't jealous. I just got use to taking her out for lunch, and it felt kind of strange not to. Besides that, there was nothing to be jealous about; they're just a bunch of her friends from New York. Here to help her get back at the filthy rich kids across town. I hated to wonder what Mia had cooking in that head of hers, that really pretty head of hers...  
I shook my head at where my thoughts were going. No way. I hadn't just thought that about Mia. Did I?  
With another shake of my head, I got up and walked across the room to my dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans that I hoped were clean. I tossed them onto the bed before kicking around some clothes on my floor in search of a shirt. I found one and threw it on the bed beside the jeans before grabbing the towel I kept on the back of my door and went to the bathroom for a shower.  
When I was done, I walked back to my room to get dressed. There was a knock on my door just as I was pulling on my t-shirt.  
"What?" I called out as I moved things around on the dresser in search of the cigarette pack I'd put there last night.  
"I need a drive to Damian's place." Angela's voice said as she opened up the door and leaned against the doorframe. She'd tied her black hair up and was wearing- what I could only guess was- all the different kinds of make up she owned.  
"No," I said, finally retrieving the cigarette pack and my knife. "Why doesn't the guy come pick you up here? I'm not your chauffeur, I'm not gonna drive you around all the time." She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. She's just like every other girl in this town; over confident, over make upped, and under dressed. Plus she's got an attitude problem, though that runs in the family.  
"His car is in the shop," Angela said as if I should have known that. I probably did, but either forgot, or didn't care enough to remember about it. "So he can't come get me, and Curly can't drive, so that leaves you." I shook my head.  
"No way, kid." I walked past her and headed down the stairs to the kitchen, hoping there'd be something to eat. "I got places to be and I can't be dragging you with me, nor can I change my plans to accommodate yours." I heard her huff and storm out of the room, then out of the house. She'd probably end up walking over to the guy's house. She never passed up a date with a guy.  
I sighed and finally found some milk in the back of the fridge that didn't look or smell bad, and walked to the cupboard in hopes that there was cereal. I found a box of cheerios and wished for something better, but I was hungry enough to eat it anyway.  
I took the box and milk over to the table before going in search of a bowl. Most of the bowls were either dirty or had been broke in the fights ma and the old man had at least once a week. I'm shocked we have anything left for bowls and plates.  
Finding one that wasn't completely filthy, I took it and a spoon back to the table. I sat down and poured the milk into the bowl before opening the box of cereal and dumped some of that in too.  
"Hey Tim," Curly's voice called from the front of the house as I finished my third bowl of cheerios. "Steven is here for ya."  
"In the kitchen." I called out as I poured the last of the milk into the bowl and filled it with cheerios.  
Steven, my right hand guy in the gang, walked in and leaned against the doorframe between the kitchen and the hallway.  
"Hungry, Shep?" He asked with a smirk. I kept silent and shoved a mouthful of cheerios into my mouth.  
"Whattcha want?" I asked once I swallowed. "The meeting ain't 'til later at Jimmy's place." Steven walked into the room and pulled out the chair across from me. He turned it and rested his arms on the back of it.  
"Have ya seen the news?" I shook my head. I didn't really care about what was going on in the world. I had enough to worry about right here in Tulsa without worrying about the whole world too.  
"No. You know I don't care for any of that stuff." He raised an eyebrow at me.  
"Well, maybe ya should." He said as he pulled a copy of today's newspaper from the waistband of his jeans. "Tulsa made headlines this mornin'." I looked at him for a moment before unfolding the paper to look at the front page.  
The title read: _House Vandalized in urban Tulsa neighbourhood_. I jumped down to look at the picture beside the article. It showed a house that had probably been white at one point, but was now splattered with mud. Holes had been dug in the front yard, and the white fence that'd surrounded the house was busted down in sections and graffitied on in others.  
"Why you showin me this?" I asked as I tossed the paper onto the table and kept eating. "It ain't got nothin to do with us." Steven shook his head and pushed the paper back over to me.  
"Read the last part." He said and I picked it up again, scanning down, I read the past paragraph.  
_The Bokes family was not home at the time of the vandalism, and neighbours say that they saw nothing that night. This is thought to have been the work of one of the gangs on the other side of town._  
I groaned and tossed the paper away.  
"Let me guess," I said as I stood up and took the bowl to the sink and dumped it in. "We're one of the gangs, right?" Steven nodded.  
"Jerry got cornered coming home from the bar this morning. Some Socs told him that if the gang did it again, they'd come after us, and everyone we know." I sighed and leaned against the counter. I looked over at the paper sitting on the table.  
It clicked in my mind and I reached for the paper again. I starred at it before slamming it back down on the table.  
"What's up, man?" Steven asked as he stood up. I gripped the back of my chair tightly before snatching up the paper once more.  
"I'll meet you guys at Jimmy's place." I said as I made my way to the door. "I got someplace to go right now."  
"Sure, Tim. See ya later." I walked out of the house and over to my car. So much for not going to see Mia today.

XXX

I pulled up outside Buck's house and got out, the newspaper tucked in the waistband of my jeans. I walked up the stairs and opened the door. The house was surprisingly quiet. I'd talked with some of the guys who Mia'd brought down, and they weren't bad guys, just loud.  
"Hello?" I called out. It was silent for a moment before there was a thump above my head. I headed for the stairs and started to walk up when Mia's head popped out from her bedroom door.  
"Hey Tim." She said. "Can you give me a minute?" I shrugged and walked back down the stairs to sit on the couch.  
A moment later, Mia came down the stairs rubbing at her eyes and running her hands through her hair.  
"You look like you didn't sleep last night." I said as I stood up. Mia shrugged and walked towards the kitchen.  
"I think I drank a little too much last night." She said as she poured herself a glass of juice and gulped it down before pouring herself some more.  
"I somehow doubt that." I said as I pulled the newspaper out for her to see. Mia set the glass down on the counter and picked up the newspaper.  
"Wow." She said after she'd finished reading it. "Someone really did a number on that place." I sneered.  
"Yea and I bet you know exactly who that _someone_ is." She looked up at me with her eyebrows raised.  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Tim." She said as she picked up her glass and took it with her to the living room. I followed her and sat down beside her on the couch.  
"Don't play dumb with me." I said. "Boys that you know from New York show up here, you want revenge on the Socs for Dally's death, and now a house on the other side of town is vandalized a week after they show up. I know you had something to do with it." She finished her glass of juice and placed it on the coffee table before she turned to look at me.  
"And Whattcha gonna do if it was me?" She asked. She leaned in slightly, resting her elbow on her knee and placed her cheek on her hand. "Turn me over to the police?" I narrowed my eyes.  
"No," I said. "But you gotta stop. People think it was my gang, and they're threatening us. They're also threatening the people we know, so that includes you" Mia snorted and leaned back.  
"Not like you ain't been threatened before." She said and I sighed.  
"That's not the point." I said. "The point is that we're being threatened for something we had no part of. Ain't you tired of all this fighting?"  
"The Socs would have found some reason for another fight to happen." Mia sneered. "So why not plan it out ourselves so that we're prepared and not caught off guard?" I thought about it for a moment.  
"That's not a bad idea." I said as Mia got up and took her glass to the kitchen. I sat for a moment before following her. "But it's dangerous, Mia. If someone catches you, especially whoever owns the house; you're going to be in big trouble." She smirked and leaned against the counter.  
"That's not going to be a problem. The only houses I'm targeting are the boys who were there at the fountain that night."  
"And how do you know who these guys are?"  
"I know who that Bob guy hung out with, I've see them all together every time they're in town and I happen to be walking by that place they all hang out at."  
"But that doesn't explain how you're not going to get caught." I said as I moved to stand beside her. She shrugged and started to walk away.  
"Chance is everything. If there's a car in the yard, then we don't even bother, if the yard is empty, then we take the chance of them coming home and finding us." I grabbed for her arm before she entered the living room again. She turned and I was stunned with how blue her eyes were, even when they were brimmed with red from being up late and being rubbed at.  
I cleared my throat and looked away when I realized that I'd been starring.  
"I don't like you taking the chance of getting caught." I said. "If some guy from that side of town catches you, you know they don't care what they do to Greasers." She snickered a little and stepped closer.  
"Sounds like you're a little worried there, Timmy." She said with a smile. We starred at each other for a moment.  
"I'm never worried when it comes to you." I said. Her eyes sparkled with laughter.  
"Why are you whispering?"  
"Why are you?"  
"I don't know."  
"Neither do I then." She giggled like a little girl and looked up at me.  
After another moment of starring, I realized that we'd moved closer together. I couldn't take it and leaned forward. Her eyes widened a little before our lips touched and they slid closed and I felt her hands rest on my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close as her arms wrapped around my neck and she stood on her toes.  
It felt like hours before my lungs started to beg for air and I had to pull away. I stood in front of her, waiting for my breathing to become regular again.  
"Sorry." I finally said as I stepped back. I was about to walk away, but Mia reached out and grabbed my hand.  
"There's no need to be sorry." She said and I was shocked when her arms wrapped around my waist and she leaned up to kiss me again. "I was just waiting for you to say something." I raised an eyebrow at her.  
"I didn't say anything." She made a face as we walked out of the doorway and over to the bar.  
"Then say something." I rolled my eyes and drummed my fingers on the countertop.  
"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies this weekend." Mia smiled.  
"I'd love to." She said. "Funny enough, that's how Dally asked me out for our first date." I smirked.  
"Great. Anyway, I have some place I have to be." I stood up and walked to the door. "So I guess I'll see you this weekend." She smiled and opened the door.  
Just then, all the boys came through the door, obviously drunk. Mia groaned and shoved them out of the way.  
"I told you boys to take it easy." She said just as Buck came through the door behind them. "Why did you let them get so drunk?" Buck raised his hands in surrender.  
"They're hard to watch when they all split up." I watched as she rolled her eyes.  
"Whatever." She looked at me and nodded towards the door. I stepped around Buck and one of the boys who'd fallen down in the doorway.  
I stepped out of the door and Mia followed, closing the door behind us.  
"Sorry about that," She said as I lit a cigarette. I smirked at her.  
"You knew I was going to come over didn't you?" Her lips thinned and she tried not to smile.  
"I may have had a notion that you'd come over, so I sent them all out of the house." I shook my head as she took the cigarette.  
"Sometimes I wonder about you." I said before taking the cigarette back to finish it off. I stomped it out on the bottom of my boot before tossing it into the dirt.  
"I'll see ya later then," Mia said and started to go back into the house before I reached for her arm. She turned back around, her blond flying past her face.  
"Be careful," I said. "I don't want you getting hurt." She smiled and moved to stand in front of me.  
"You sound worried again." I smirked and looked around for a second before turning back to look at her.  
"Like I said, I'm not worried when it comes to you." I leaned down to give her a kiss. "Just cautious." She smiled and leaned up for one more kiss before she turned and walked back into the house.  
I watched her go before heading over to my car. I got in and turned the key before heading towards Jimmy's place. The meeting had originally been about getting into some rodeo stuff, but now I had a different schedule in mind.

_Now I'm falling for you I hope you're falling for me  
And I'm falling so hard that I am head over heels  
And I hope you touch down before my feet hit the ground  
I'm falling for you  
I hope you're falling …_  
XXX

That was a long chapter. Hope you liked it! :) I love the song; I think it really fits how Tim could be feeling about Mia. Even if he doesn't say so out loud.

Reviews would be awesome!

~Stay Gold!


	19. Chapter 19: Dreamland

A/N: I've wanted to write this chapter for a long time. I thought it'd be cool to have Mia- never mind. That would spoil it. :) Enjoy!

Make Heaven wait by Guy Sebastian

XXX  
_I see you smiling every day  
Looking back at me like nothing ever changed  
I swear I heard you call my name  
But in reality  
Its just your picture in the frame  
Why am I here  
Without you  
When there was so much for us left to do  
How could the angels have come so soon_

I sighed as I tossed a blanket over Tyler, who has passed out on the couch. I felt like a mother to all those boys, most of who were older then me. I looked around at them all passed out on the floor and ran a hand through my hair.  
Before I went to bed, I walked around the room, checking to make sure everyone was still breathing. Then I headed upstairs to check on the ones who'd made it up there on their own.  
I creaked open the door to the room Liam was sharing with Wes and Justin, noticing that he was still awake.  
"You should get some sleep, Liam." I said as I stood in the doorway. He looked up at me.  
"I saw you with that Shepard guy today." He said. I stood silently, not really knowing what to say. "He better not hurt you, or Dally will haunt him in his sleep." I gave him a lopsided smile.  
"Tim isn't going to hurt me," I said. "He's not a bad guy, just a little rough around the edges. But then again, which one of us isn't, right?" Liam smirked and laid down on the bed.  
"Right," He said. "Night Mia."  
"Night Liam." I said back as I closed the door. I checked on the other boys before I made my way to my own room to get ready for bed.  
It was already getting on to 2 in the morning, and I was tired. But like every night, I pulled out the picture frame and chain from the drawer in the nightstand.  
The chain had been Dally's, a gift from his mother before she died in the hospital. The picture was of him and me when we were younger; Mrs. Curtis had taken it the first summer we'd spent with everyone. Wed gone to the beach that day, it'd been a lot of fun; the picture showed me sitting on Dally's shoulders while he stood waist deep in the lake water. We were both smiling, like we didn't have a care in the world, and at the time we hadn't. It'd been the first summer in three years that Dally hadn't gone to jail over something. It'd been a time of laughter and happiness that we'd never really had growing up.  
I sighed and hugged the frame to my chest and clutched the chain tightly in my hand. I'd never be able to put into words how much I missed him and wanted him to be alive. I thought of him every day, though I never let on to anyone about it. Sometimes I thought I'd hear his voice coming from somewhere around me, but when I'd turn around, it was always nothing. It hurt to be without him, it hurt really bad.  
With one last look at the picture, I put them both away in the drawer and pulled the covers over myself before drifting to sleep.

XXX

Everything was white. Almost blinding white and I was forced to shade my eyes until it calmed down a little. When it did, I looked around. It was nothing but open space as far as I could see, and I immediately questioned where I was.  
"I must be dreaming." I said to myself as I looked around some more.  
"Yea, but I bet you're gonna like this dream." I stopped dead and felt my heart slam against my chest. That voice, I knew that voice.  
Slowly, I turned around and felt like passing out from shock at who was standing a little ways away from me.  
He still wore blue jeans and a white t-shirt with his jean jacket overtop. His shaggy brown hair still looked unkempt and his crystal blue eyes sparkled; though not with hatred like they use to, but happiness.  
"I really am dreaming." I said as I slowly took a few steps forward. "This can't possibly be real." He smirked and walked up to me, standing just a step away, in my arms reach.  
"It's only as real as you want it to be, Mia." He said and reached out to run his fingers across my cheek. I nearly melted at his touch and half leaped into his arms.  
He laughed and hugged me back tightly, and I felt a warmth that I hadn't felt in almost a year.  
"Oh God, Dally." I whispered as I hugged him as tightly as I could. Now that I knew I could touch him and not go right through him- like with the ghosts in movies- I didn't want to let go. "I missed you so much." He sighed and hugged back tightly. We stood there silently for a moment before he seemed to reluctantly pull back. He starred at me and for a moment I thought I saw tears shining in his eyes.  
"I missed you too Mia." He said. I let out a choked sob and brought his face to mine. I kissed him deeply, missing everything about him.  
I felt his arms wrap around my waist and hold me tightly as we stood there, completely absorbed in each other until our lungs begged for air.  
I reluctantly pulled back, but kept my arms around his neck as I steadied my breathing.  
"Why now?" I asked. He looked at me like he knew what I was talking about, but was waiting to hear the explanation to the question. "Why now after all this time did you suddenly decide that it'd be a good idea to visit me, even in my sleep?" He sighed and let go of me, and I did the same as he walked over to a bench that I hadn't seen before. He sat down, and I sat beside him.  
"You could say I was on probation." He said. "I would've, but I wasn't allowed." He sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. "It's really weird up there Mia; like it looks like Tulsa and everything, just without all the people. It's just Johnny, me, and Mr. and Mrs. Curtis." I gasped.  
"Really? They're there too?" He nodded before continuing.  
"And the TV is _really_ strange. It has like all the channels we always had, but then it has these special ones where we can check on anyone we really cared about." I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"So you can like watch us?" He nodded. "That would explain the feeling I get when I feel like I'm being watched." Dally laughed and nodded.  
"Yea probably." He said then went silent. "I've been watching you with Shepard." I bit my lip. "Don't worry sweetheart, I don't mind." I looked at him and could tell that even through his words, he did mind.  
"It's just that," I paused. "He's been around, Dally. Right after you died, he was standing on the front step. Then he told me about that deal- what's with that deal anyway?" I asked and he chuckled.  
"I was extremely drunk that night." He said. "You'd gone out with Evie and Sandy for a movie, remember? Cause you were upset over me just getting out of jail after bein' in there for something stupid." I nodded, though it could have been any occasion where he'd gotten jailed. "I got drunk and Tim came by. We were just talking when I suggested that we make the deal." He stopped and looked at me. "And I have to say that I'm glad for it. I'd never had a second's peace if I thought that there wasn't someone keeping an eye on you." He paused and raised an eyebrow at me. "Though the proximity is a bit closer then I would like." I gave him a lopsided smile.  
"He doesn't mean as much to me as you do, Dally." I said as I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him.  
After we parted, he smiled at me; a true smile that made me grin.  
"You seem different, Dal." I said as he pulled me closer. "What's up with you?" He chuckled.  
"It's hard to stay the way I was around here when there is- literally- no one around to be angry at." I smiled sadly.  
"I wish something like that had happened while you were alive." He sighed and seemed to tighten his grip around me.  
"I know. I know I made a harsh decision, but I couldn't help it." He seemed to be trying to find the right words to tell me why he got himself killed. "I couldn't leave Johnny alone, you know that right?" I hesitated, but nodded. "I guess when I watched him die in the hospital, I crumbled." He sighed. "I guess that the thought of Johnny being on his own- anywhere he was- just didn't sit well with me." I sat up.  
"And the thought of leaving me was perfectly fine?" I stood up and took a few steps away, crossing my arms over my chest.  
"No, Mia." Dally said quickly. I felt his presence beside me a second later. "It didn't sit well with me, but I knew after you got back on your feet you'd be fine without me." I sighed and turned around to look at him. His blue eyes held a spark of concern, and I couldn't help but sigh.  
"I guess I understand where you're coming from." I said as I wrapped my arms around him. "But I still wish you were alive. You and Johnny. We all miss you a lot." He gave me a sad smile and kissed my forehead.  
"Trust me Mia, I wish I was alive too." He said. "But we can't change the past, no matter how much we want too. And I want you to do something for me."  
"What?"  
"Don't do anything you might regret," I bit my lip, thinking he'd probably seen the vandalism. "I'd rather you not show up here with me anytime soon." I nodded and reached up to kiss him again. "Be happy, Mia." His voice was soft, and I realized just how much he'd changed since he died. I sighed and looked up at him.

"How's Johnny?" I asked. Dally grinned.

"Better then he ever was, he smiles a lot more now." That made me smile, and then I frowned.

"Wait a minute." I said. "If you can only come see me now, cause you were on probation. Was Johnny on probation too?" Dally shook his head. "Then how come I ain't heard from him? Or heard anyone else talking about him?"

"He doesn't want to do the whole visiting thing." Dally said. "I don't really know why. But he doesn't. I only wanted to see you. Though I miss everyone else, I missed you the most." I gave him a small smile.

"Everyone misses you guys too. Nothing feels the same anymore without you guys around." He laughed.

"I bet, now you don't have to be picking someone up from the jail every 5 months." He raised an eyebrow at me. "Though with the way things are going with Tim that might not last for long." I rolled my eyes.

"Don't worry Dally," I said. "This is probably no more then a little fling. The only guy I was ever serious about was you; you know that." He nodded and cracked a smile.

"Yea, me and Lenny Smith." I rolled my eyes.

"That's not true. I just didn't know how to let him go gently. He was my first boyfriend." Daly smirked.

"Absolutely. That's definitely the reason why you dated him for- what was it? Almost 2 years?" I glared at him and he laughed. "The guy was a total nerd." I didn't bother arguing with that. Lenny had been a nerd and I'd never understand why I even said yes when he asked my out.

Somewhere off in the distance, I heard what sounded like chimes and looked back at Dallas.

"What was that?" I asked and he gave me a sad smile.

"Means our time is up." He said and wrapped his arms around me for one last hug. I hugged back tightly and buried my face in his shirt.

"I'm not going to see you again am I?" He smiled softly.  
"Not for awhile." He kissed my forehead again. "But I'll always be there for you, no matter where you are, I'll be watching over you. Like your guardian angel kind of thing." I felt tears in my eyes as I hugged him tightly one last time and gave him a final kiss as I felt myself being pulled away from him. I tried to reach for him, but he just smiled at me and waved goodbye.  
"I love you Dally." I said as everything started to turn black.  
"Love you too, baby doll. Never forget it." Then everything faded away.

XXX

I gasped away and shot up in my bed. I looked around frantically, slightly disoriented.  
As I brought my heart rate back down to normal, I touched my lips. For a dream, it'd seemed extremely real. I sighed and laid back down in bed, starring at the ceiling, picturing Dally's smiling face. I felt tears in my eyes and wiped at them. But even through the tears, I felt better then I had in a long time.

_If I could make heaven wait  
I'd find a way to ask god if he had  
Made some mistake  
If he'd save your wings  
For another day  
If only I could make heaven wait_  
XXX

Hope everyone enjoyed that chapter! I really like this song and I would recommend listening to it. Review please!

~Stay Gold


	20. Chapter 20: Beautiful Night

_Innocence_ by Avril Lavigne

XXX  
_Waking up I see that everything is OK  
The first time in my life and now it's so great  
Slowing down I look around and I am so amazed  
I think about the little things that make life great_

I cursed as I stumbled out of the shower, the towel wrapped around me. I was late getting ready for my date with Tim, so I had to rush.  
I dashed to my room and threw on the only pair of sweat pants I owned and a tank top before dashing back to the bathroom. As I ran, Liam happened to be coming out of his room. He backed up just as I tried to skid to a stop.  
"Whoa!" He said. "What's the rush?" I opened the cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out my hair drier.  
"I'm late getting ready for my date with Tim." I said as I plugged it in and turned it on high in hopes that it would dry my hair quickly so I could straighten it. I'd gone to the hair salon the day before and gotten it cut, so it wasn't as bad for drying.  
"I never knew you to be a perfectionist for a date." Liam said over the sound of the hair drier blowing next to my ear.  
"That's because you never seen me get ready for a date." I said just as loud. I watched him shake his head and walk down the stairs to join the other boys at the bar. Buck was just getting ready to open the bar for the evening, so he was getting the boys to help a bit. I smiled as I finished drying most of my hair; what was still wet would dry with the straightener. I plugged it in and walked back to my room to get my make up while I let it heat up some. I wasn't planning on wearing much (I really hated the feeling of it caked onto my face), but I needed to wear some to cover up the dark circles that'd formed under my eyes from being up late the past couple of nights.  
I grabbed the make up I wanted off my dresser and walked back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

XXX

"Ugh!" I complained as I walked down the stairs with a pair of high heels in my hand. "I need new shoes!" The boys looked up from where they were all sitting at two tables they'd pushed together. Buck had just turned the open sign on and people would be showing up in a few minutes.  
"What's wrong with those ones?" Wes asked and I rolled my eyes.  
"I haven't worn these in years. They've been sitting in the back of the closet and smell." I sighed as I tossed them into the garbage at the end of the bar. "I'll just wear my boots then."  
"That's really classy for a date." Justin said as he pulled a pack of cards from his jacket pocket and started dealing them out to some of the guys sitting around the table. I rolled my eyes as I pulled my boots from the closet and placed them by the door. "So are your clothes." I looked at the sweat pants and tank top I was still wearing.  
"I haven't changed into my dress yet, OK?" I said as I walked over and leaned against the back of Liam's chair. "I just finished my hair."  
"Then you should go get dressed." Liam said as he shoed me away so I couldn't see his cards. I laughed and moved towards the stairs. Back in New York, I'd look over the guy's shoulders and made signals as to what they had in their hands. It took a few of them some time to catch onto what I was doing.  
I walked into my room and grabbed my black dress from the closet. I hadn't worn it since Dally and Johnny's funeral, and I'd almost been tempted to go buy a new one; but that'd look like I was trying too hard to impress a guy. I smiled at the irony that I'd bought the dress to impress Dally.  
As I pulled the dress on and did a final check on my hair, I heard a car pulling into the yard and looked out my window to see Tim's cars headlights flicker off.  
I jogged down the stairs and over to the door to pull on my boots.  
"OK, you guys know the deal right?" I asked as I tied the laces on the first one and tugged on the other. "Don't get caught while you're out. And don't come spying on me." I watched some of them roll their eyes. "The spray paint is in the basement behind some boxes. And be back before I get home so Tim isn't suspicious. Where'd I put my purse?" I looked behind the bar, and found it in the drawer below the cash register.  
"Cause we wouldn't want your boyfriend thinking you were a bad girl." Liam said, just as Tim opened the door. The sneer I was about to send at Liam turned into a grin as I walked over to him.  
"Hey." I said as he smirked at me. "Let's go before they start anything." I heard someone snicker behind me, just as Jason called out.  
"Have he back by 10 alright, Shepard?" I rolled my eyes and turned Tim towards the door.  
"You guys can't tell me what time I need to be home. Technically, you guys don't even live here. I do." I said as I closed the door behind me. I looked at Tim as he shook his head.  
"How do you deal with that?" He asked as we walked towards his car. I shrugged.  
"I just go with it." I said as we slid into the car and he turned the key in the ignition before backing out of the yard. People were just starting to pull in, and I was glad that I didn't have to work that night.  
"Have you eaten yet?" Tim asked as we drove towards town.  
"No. I took the boys out around town for the day and was late getting back to get ready." He nodded and looked over at me.  
"You got your hair cut." He said, and I couldn't help but grin at the fact that he'd noticed. I use to have to flat out tell Dally for him to notice.  
"Yea, it was getting pretty long, and annoying." I said as I pulled a pack of cigarettes from my purse and put it between my lips as I searched for my lighter. I found it and lit the end, taking a long drag as I rolled down the window and blew the smoke out.  
It was a warm night for being early spring, I'd heard on the radio and TV that people thought we might be in for some early tornados. I shivered slightly at the thought; one of the few weather related things that freaked me out the most were tornados. I hated them.  
"You cold?" Tim asked as we pulled up to a diner in town. It wasn't flashy, so it wasn't a Soc place. But it looked a little too nice to be a Greaser hangout spot.  
"Naw. What is this place?" I asked to change the subject. Dallas was the only one who'd known about the extent of my hatred for tornados. The guys kind of knew, and Darry and them did too.  
"It's Blake's fathers place." Tim said as we walked through the door. "He opened it after coming home from Vietnam last year. Blake asked me to try and get as many people to come here as possible." I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"Let me guess you brought me here so that I'll go home and talk about it to everyone. Right?" Tim shrugged.  
"That wasn't my thought, but OK." I laughed as we took a seat at one of the booths by the window. I looked out at the street where couples were walking, smiling and laughing with each other. I felt a pang in my chest; but it wasn't jealousy. It was hope, that maybe, someday I'd find someone who I'd fall in love with. I sighed, realizing that that someone was gone and I was just dreaming.  
"Hey," I turned away from the window and looked at Tim. He was looking at me curiously. "You OK?" I nodded and smile.  
"Yea, just a little tired. Those boys keep me up at night when they're drinking." Tim smirked as an older woman came over to the table.  
"Hello, Timothy." She said with a smile. Tim smiled back, though it kind of looked like a grimace and I stifled a laugh.  
"Hey Mrs. Landers." He said. "You've done well with the place." Mrs. Landers smiled and thanked him before she turned to me.  
"You must be Mia." She said as she stuck her hand out for me to shake. I hesitate for a second before shaking it. "I've heard a lot about you." I gave her a small smile. I wasn't use to having adults talk to me without calling me something. "Now what would you like to drink?"  
"I'll have a coke." Tim said.  
"Pepsi for me please." Mrs. Landers nodded and left, then came back a moment later with our drinks and menus.  
"I'll give you a moment to order." She said and walked away to another table.  
"Wow, way better service then the Dingo." I commented as I looked over the menu. I licked my lips when I saw the BBQ steak on it.  
"Definitely. The foods better here too." Tim said as he put his menu to the side and sipped at his drink. I put mine to the side as well and popped open the bottle of Pepsi.  
"So who is she?" I asked.  
"She's Blake's mother." Tim said once he put down his glass. "It's kind of like a family business. Blake helps out sometimes too." I looked around. It was a nice place; music was playing from a stereo off to the side, everything seemed clean, and no one was being loud and rowdy. I remembered that Blake was one of the younger guys in Tim's gang.  
"I like it here." I said just before Mrs. Landers came back over to take our orders.  
As we waited for our meals to come, Tim and I did what they call _small talk_. Stupid name considering the conversations weren't that small.  
"OK," I said as I leaned back in the booth. "How many girlfriends have you had?" Tim rolled his eyes.  
"Really?" I nodded. "More then I can honestly count. I wouldn't even bother trying." I smirked.  
"Figures." I said as a young guy came out with our plates. I thought I might start drooling over the steak. It looked so good.  
"So how many boyfriends have you had?" Tim asked as he picked up his burger and took a bit. I cut a piece of steak and put it in my mouth, it was delicious.  
"Um," I thought as I cut another piece. "Not that many. A few in New York. A couple here." Tim raised an eyebrow at me.  
"Does that few here include me?" I thought I might blush, but managed to keep it away from my cheeks.  
"Depends on how well this date goes." I said and he smirked.  
"How about the boys from New York? Any of them worth it?" I thought before shaking my head.  
"No, not really. Most of them were jerks who if they didn't get what they wanted, I wasn't worth their time. One guy would treat me like a queen when we were alone and when we were around the gang, but as soon as he was with his friends at a party or something, I was trash. It only happened once before I dumped him." I snickered. "He wasn't too happy being the dumped instead of the dumper." Tim chuckled and we finished our meal quietly.

XXX

"OK, so what movie do you want to see?" Tim asked as we walked out of the diner after paying for the meal. I was thinking as I walked and gave a little jump when I felt Tim's arm around my waist, pulling me a little closer to his side.  
"I don't know," I thought numbly, any thought having left my brain at the contact. "I've heard Footloose is supposed to be a good movie." When Tim stepped away to get into the car, I missed the warmth of him being close.  
"OK, we'll go see Footloose then." And as soon as I was in the car, he turned out of the parking lot and took off for the theatre.

XXX

"That wasn't a bad movie." I said as we walked back to the car.  
"I never like musicals." Tim said as we got in and pulled out of the parking lot. I laughed and ran my hands back through my hair.  
"What time is it?" I asked. Tim shrugged and rolled down his window before lighting a smoke.  
"I think it's almost 11." It was silent as we drove through town back towards home. "Want to go for a walk?" I was shocked by the question but nodded.  
"Sure." Tim drove to the park and stopped the car outside the park.

XXX

Our walk through the park was surprisingly peaceful. We talked some more as we walked, holding hands as we came to the fountain. I stiffened slightly and was about to ask if we could go back, but Tim made the suggestion first. I was grateful when his arm wrapped around my waist and turned me in the other direction, back towards the car.  
As we drove back to Buck's, I rolled down the window and let it wipe my hair around my face. Buck's wasn't far from the park, and as we pulled into the yard, I felt sad that the night was going to end.  
"I'm going in for a drink." Tim said as he opened the door. "You gonna want one?" I nodded and got out of the car. Before we got to the steps, Tim pulled me off to the side of the building. He shifted on his feet for a moment, burying his hands in his jeans pockets. I stood quietly, waiting for him to say something.  
"I had fun tonight." I said after a moment, hoping it would get him talking. He smirked and pulled something from his pocket. It glinted in the light filtering through the window above us and my eyed widened.  
"I was hoping you'd take this then." He held out the ring for me to see. I stood open mouthed for a moment before reaching for the ring. Tim handed it to me and I looked at it before sliding it onto my finger.  
"Thanks." I said after a second of starring at the ring. Tim smirked and leaned down to give me a kiss.  
I smiled as we parted and headed inside. The place was a bit crowded and everyone seemed to turn and look at us as we walked in. I rolled my eyes as we sat down at the bar; this would really get the gossip mill going.

_This innocence is brilliant  
I hope that it will stay  
This moment is perfect  
Please don't go away  
I need you now  
And I'll hold on to it  
Don't you let it pass you by_  
XXX

Hope you enjoyed it! :) Please review!

~Stay Gold!


	21. Chapter 21: Start of it all

A/N: I know it's been a long time, and I'm really sorry! I've been busy and putting this off. :p Opps.

Hope you enjoy! I hope to have the next chapter up a little faster then this one.

_Runnin_ by Adam Lambert

XXX  
_My heart's beating faster, I know what I'm after.  
I've been standing here my whole life,  
Everything I've seen twice, now it's time I realize  
It's spinnin' back around now, on this road I'm crawling  
Save me cause I'm falling, now I can't seem to breathe right  
_  
A week later I was sitting at the bar during the off hours reading my book. _How to kill a Mockingbird_ was one of the few books I liked to read more then once.  
Just as I was getting up to grab a beer and sit on the couch, the door opened and Tim walked in.  
"Hey," I said as I walked into the kitchen. "Want a beer?"  
"Sure." I put my book down on the counter as I opened the fridge to reach for the beers. I heard Tim come into the room behind me as I shoved stuff out of the way to reach the drinks.  
"So where have you been all week?" I asked once I'd gotten the beers out and closed the door. Tim shrugged as he opened his beer.  
"I got picked up for fighting. While they had me in for that, they slapped some speeding tickets on me." I nodded as I hopped up onto the counter.  
"That sounds like something the cops would do." Tim smirked and leaned against the counter beside me.  
"I know. So, did ya miss me?" I laughed and shook my head.  
"Didn't even really notice you were gone. I figured you were out partying and whatever." Tim rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
"Parties sound like more fun then what I was doing. Sitting in a jail cell gets boring after a few hours."  
"I know that." I said as I picked up my book and started to slide off the counter, but Tim stopped me by placing his hands on both either side of me.  
"Not so fast." He said. "Don't I even get a little bit of concern?" I rolled my eyes and put my book down before I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned over to kiss him. When I pulled back, I smiled at him.  
"Maybe I missed you a little bit." I said as I slide off the counter and gave him a light shove to get him out of my way. "But I've been keeping busy." Tim rolled his eyes.  
"I noticed that, or should I say, I heard it from guys coming in. It was on the radio that the night guard kept on all night." I smirked and walked away.  
"Yea. The Socs are pretty angry. They almost got me cornered the other day, but I managed to take a detour that they couldn't follow me down. Or at least they couldn't follow me with a car." I could hear Tim following me out to the bar.  
"I know you already know that I don't like what you're doing." He said as we sat down on the couch. I pulled my right leg up under me and rested my left over Tim's.  
"I know you don't like it." I said as I sipped at my beer and ran my fingers over the edge of my book, causing it to make a flapping noise every time the pages fell back together. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop." Tim rolled his eyes and pushed my leg away. I smirked and sat up a little straighter on the couch.  
"I figured you wouldn't stop." Tim said as he finished his beer and set the bottle on the floor. "So I want in on it." I raised my eyebrow at him.  
"In on it? What'd ya mean?"  
"I mean I want to know what you're planning. I mean, you can't be causing all this trouble without knowing how you want it to end." I bit my lip and looked at him. His eyes widened a little. "You have no idea what's going to happened, do you?" I shook my head. "That's bad planning. How do you not know this? This could all backfire on you if you don't have some sort of plan." I pierced my lips together.  
"I'm sorry, but I haven't really been on the ball with planning all this out. The farthest I've gone with the planning is which houses get messed up." Tim sighed and shook his head.  
"That's really dumb." He said and I turned my head away.  
"I don't need your help with anything, Tim. I have this all under control." Tim sighed and leaned back against the couch.  
"From the sounds of it, no you don't. But think what you like." He said. "And since you feel that way, I guess I won't tell you what Steven told me before I came over." I shrugged.  
"Fine by me." I said before standing up. "I got places to be, I'll talk to you later."  
"You're kicking me out?" He sounded slightly amused and I smirked.  
"I never actually invited you in. You just walked through the door." Tim rolled his eyes and got up off the couch.  
"I'll talk to you later then." He said. I nodded and waited for him to walk out the door before I made my way up to my room to get dressed. I had to go out to run some errands before I came back for my shift behind the bar.  
As I ran my hairbrush through my hair, I wondered what Steven had told Tim, if he'd told him anything at all. Tim was notorious for lying, so he could've just been saying that to see if I would talk.  
Smirking I walked out of the room and down to the door to put my sneakers on before heading out the door. Buck had taken the car because he had to go into the city for something, so I was forced to walk. But considering I was only walking over to the Curtis' place, it wasn't that bad; I'd just bum a ride off of Two- Bit or something later on when I needed to go into town.

XXX

"Hey, Mia." Sodapop said as I walked through the door. "Where've you been lately?" I walked to the fridge and pulled out the chocolate milk.  
"Out and about." I said as I fished around in the cupboard for a glass. "I've had some things to do."  
"I bet you have." I turned when Steve came into the kitchen from the living room. "You've been the talk of the town for a week or so now." I raised an eyebrow at him as I finished the glass of milk and poured myself another one.  
"Really? And what have the rumour mills been turning about lately?"  
"That you and Shepard are dating." I nodded.  
"True. But that can't be it, what else?"  
"That you're the one doing the vandalism on the other side of town." I nearly choked but managed to keep it to a single cough.  
"The trust that this town has in me." I said sarcastically. Steve and Soda glanced at each other before looking at me.  
"So it's true then?" Soda looked upset when I kept quiet, basically giving it away.  
"I guess that would explain the talk about a bunch of new boys in town lately. Friends of yours?" Steve asked. I figured I really didn't have a way out of this, so I put my glass by the sink and walked into the living room.  
"The boys are from New York." I said simply as I sat down on the couch.  
"And the point of trashing Socs houses?" Soda asked.  
"Ain't you boys supposed to be at work?" I asked, trying to turn them away from the subject.  
"The store is getting repainted." Steve said. "We don't have work for the next 3 days. Now stop changing the subject. What is the point of trashing the Socs houses?" I slouched on the couch.  
"There really isn't a point of it." I said. "I'm just pissed that the Socs can get away with everything and not have to deal with any of the consequences. I've just been targeting certain houses, and there's only one last house. What happens after that," I shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." Steve and Soda shared another glance before Steve looked at me.  
"Well you better start making plans," He said. "Cause I've heard that the Socs are more pissed then when Johnny killed that Bob kid. They want a fight something awful from what I heard from Trent."  
"You trust that guy?" I asked. Trent was one of the Brumly boys. None of them were very smart, and less of them were trustworthy for information.  
Steve shrugged.  
"When it comes to fights, I trust them with info. They're always in on what's going on with the Socs." I sighed and stood up.  
"Great." I said and walked to the door. "Now I have to plan for a fight."  
"That ain't it either, Mia." Soda said. "There's gonna be a meeting at the school at some point. It's for parents so they can talk about what to do about the vandalism. The police are going crazy cause they can't find anything that would connect each vandalism to the other." I smirked. That was the whole idea. "They're sayin' that when they catch the guys who are doing this, even if they're underage, they're gonna do time in prison." This caught my attention and I turned to looked at him. Soda was starring down at the floor, his hands behind his back and his foot scuffing at the carpet. "Just be careful, alright? This ain't some petty crime that's just gonna get you some time in at the station prison; they'll send you up to the Oklahoma prison for this." I shrugged and opened the door, waving bye over my shoulder as I headed out. So the cops were sure they'd catch me. At the rate they were going, I'd like to see them try.

_'Round and around I'd go, addicted to the numb  
Living in the cold  
The higher, the lower the down, down, down  
Sick of being tired and sick of waiting  
For another kind of fix  
The damage is damning me down, down, down  
_  
XXX

I'm really, _really_ sorry this chapter took so long! D: I had a hard time writing it.  
Sorry!

~Stay Gold!


	22. Chapter 22: Back- up

A/N: This chapter is really different to all the other ones, I don't think I'll write anymore like this, but I've been thinking about it since forever for this story.

_Kristy are you doing OK?_ by The Offspring  
XXX  
_Can you stay strong?  
Can you go on?  
Kristy, are you doing okay?  
A rose that won't bloom  
Winter's kept you  
Don't waste your whole life trying  
To get back what was taken away_

XXX

The police station was crowded as Jeff Willis walked through the doors.  
"Sir," A young man said as he came out of a back room. "I just got a phone call that the NYPD squad that's coming down is just leaving the airport now."  
"Alright." He said. "Have an office area ready for when they arrive. I want to get to work on this case immediately." The man nodded and left the room quickly.  
Jeff sighed and walked to his office to organize the case file for the New York police that were coming in a few minutes.

XXX

"Welcome to Tulsa, Officer Brian." Jeff said as he walked out the doors of the police station to greet the small group of people that had just arrived at the station. "We have an office area all ready for you to set up in." The officer nodded and followed Jeff into the building and down a short hallway to a spacious office area.  
"When are we going to get started?" He asked once his team was inside and setting up.  
"As soon as you are ready." Jeff said. "We can meet in here if you like." Officer Brian nodded.  
"Then go get your team, we can start now." Jeff was slightly shocked at the speed, but nodded and walked out of the room to get his team together.

XXX

"So who are we dealing with?" Officer Brian asked as he was handed a case file and opened it. His eyes widened a little as they saw the person in the mug shot. "Mia Baker?" He asked and Jeff nodded. "Well, now we know where she went to. Are there any other people involved?"  
"Not that we know of." Another officer answered. Brian looked up in confusion.  
"That's not possible; no one can pull this off on their own. Beside, the chance of Mia doing something without Dallas Winston is minimal. Where is his file? I don't see it."  
"Dallas Winston is dead." An officer named Cameron said. "He was shot almost a year ago after robbing a store on the other side of town." The New York officers all looked at each other. Brian tossed the file down onto the table in front of him.  
"Well there's a motive for Mia to have done it. That would also explain why the streets back home have been quiet lately."  
"I did receive information from a reliable source saying that their old gang members hadn't been around for awhile." One of the New York officers said. "It would make sense if they had come here."  
"Excuse me," Jeff said. "But what are you talking about? Are you saying there's a gang from New York running around town?" Brian looked up at him.  
"What kind of background check have you done on Mia Baker since she got here?" He asked. Jeff shrugged.  
"Not much, all we ever found out was that she was from New York and she moved here with Dallas Winston. They wouldn't say anything." Brian shook his head.  
"Then let's start at square one shall we?" He walked over to the chalk board that was on the wall behind him. He picked up the file as he went and started writing down some of the information before tossing it back onto the table.  
"OK, today we're looking into Mia Baker. She's 17 years old and comes from New York. She's being doing small amounts of time in the station prison for several years, but if she is the one causing the vandalism, it'll be the worst crime. Right?" Jeff nodded from across the room where he was leaning against the wall. "You really think that's the worst she's done?" Everyone from the Tulsa department looked around at each other. Brian turned to one of his officers who nodded and reached into a box before pulling out a file. Brian took the file and opened it.  
"This," He said. "Is Mia's file from New York. 3 years of crimes ranging from public fighting to armed robbery. We almost had them all on a murder charge, but it didn't hold because of insufficient evidence."  
"Mia? Kill someone? That's not possible." One of the officers said. "I book her all the time. She may be a delinquent, but she's not a killer." Brian sighed and put the file down.  
"You guys have no idea what Mia is capable of, do you? She and Dallas ran a gang! Doesn't that say something about who they are- was in Dallas' case?" Brian walked around to stand in front of the desk. "Mia was 10 years old when she first got caught for stealing. She spent 2 months in the station prison and was back more times then anyone at the department would be able to count. She, Dallas and the boys in their gang were always in and out. I don't remember a time when they were running their gang that someone from it wasn't in one of the cells at the station." He stood up and wandered around the people in the room. "I booked her most of the time in New York, and I know for a fact that she's capable of anything she sets her mind to, including vandalism. Now if she is the one causing the problems around here, she has a reason. Now you said Dallas was shot?" Jeff nodded. "By who?" The police looked around at each other before one spoke up.  
"Us." He said. "The store owner called the police and we chased him to a lot about half a kilometre away." He paused. "She and some of the boys she hangs out with here were running towards him when we shot him."  
"So she watched him get shot?" Brian asked and watched as the officers nodded. "Well if she is the one doing the vandalism, then it's nothing more then a revenge scheme. How do you plan on catching whoever is doing it?"  
"We've set up for a meeting with parents around town to discuss what has been going on." Jeff said. "We're hoping that someone might step up with information if it isn't to reporters." Brian nodded.  
"Well then, I think everything is under control." He stopped. "But I suggest having a back-up plan in case no one steps forward. If it turns out that Mia and her old gang are involved in this, chances are very few people know about it. Also, if it turns out it is them; we'll be taking them all back to serve their time in the detention center in New York." Jeff nodded and stood up from where he'd been leaning against the wall.  
"We'll go get things ready for the meeting." He said.  
"Where is this meeting taking place?" Brian asked.  
"At the high school." Jeff said.  
"We're going to need to be there." Brian said. "For now though, we need to try and find as much evidence as we can so we can charge Mia with vandalism." The police from New York immediately started to sort through the evidence files while the Tulsa police left the room to deal with other things.

"One more thing," Brian said to Jeff. "Where is Mia staying?"

"At a place on the other side of town." Jeff answered. "I can't tell you the address off the top of my head, but I know where it is."

"That's OK, but I would like to go over and pay her a visit before the meeting." Jeff nodded and left the room without another word.  
Officer Brian walked back over to his temporary desk and sat down. He opened the file with Mia's most recent mug shot in it and smirked.  
"You haven't changed one bit, Baker." He mumbled quietly. "We're gonna get you this time, you can't run from us like last time."

_I knew that something was wrong  
And I should have spoke out  
And I'm so sorry now  
I didn't know  
'Cause we were so young  
Oh, clouds of time  
Seem to rain on  
Innocence left behind  
And it never goes away_  
XXX

Yea! Another chapter! :) I'm not so sure I like this as much as I thought I would, but it's kind of important for the rest of the story. Also, I didn't realize how short it was until I put it in a Word document on my computer. :p I hope to have another chapter up soon (but don't count on it, I've hit a writer's block and don't know how to continue) and it should be longer… Hopefully.  
Also, I know the song doesn't really follow what is happening and being said in the chapter, just so ya know. It's more like Brian thinking back to when Mia was in New York, and thinking about everything she must have gone through to get to where she is now. I know there isn't much about who Brian is in this chapter, I may try to put some more background info about him in the next chapter.  
Hope you enjoyed it!

~Stay Gold!


	23. Chapter 23: Visit in the rain

A/N: So this is one of the final chapters. I'm thinking that there might only be 3 or 4 more. This has taken up a lot of my free time, and I'm going to miss it once it's over.

Thanks to everyone who has been reading it from the start, I really appreciate it.

I'll save the rest of the thanks for the end, when I can cry because it's all done. :p

So the song doesn't really go with the story, but I was getting really annoyed because I couldn't find a song that fit it better. But it is a good song; I'd suggest listening to it.

_Turn the clock back_ by Karma

XXX  
_If I had no secrets buried behind  
I'd feel love, certain love, for the first time_

I slumped against the counter as I waited for the frying pan to heat up. It was about 10 in the morning, and I wanted to go back to sleep and forget about the group of boys that needed to be fed. If it wasn't for the fact that they'd be up in a few hours when I still wanted to sleep, I'd forget about cooking.  
Once the pan was warm enough, I took out the bacon from the fridge and started to place it in it. The sizzling sounded nice and the smell made me drool a little.  
Just then I heard the door open and close, and I turned as Tim walked into the kitchen.  
"Morning." He said. "I didn't expect you up so early." I smirked and turned back to the frying pan.  
"Then why are you here so early?" I asked.  
"Buck said he could get a few of my boys a place in the next rodeo show. We're scraping for ways to get money these days. Is he around?"  
"Get a job then. And no, he went out for a few hours."  
"Hell no! I ain't getting a job!"  
"Why not?"  
"Because I don't need a job, I just need cash." I turned to him and gave him a look.  
"A job would entitle a constant flow of cash." Tim shrugged.  
"I don't like the idea of needing to be somewhere at a very specific time. Plus it's a waste of a day." I laughed as I flipped the bacon over to cook on the other side.  
"I still think you should get a job." I said with a yawn as I leaned against the counter, closing my eyes as my head hit the cold surface. I heard Tim chuckle before I felt his arms pulling me up off the countertop.  
"I'll take it you were up late 'partying'." I smirked as I leaned against him, keeping my eyes closed.  
"Yup, best one yet. Though it took longer then normal. I didn't think Socs were that slow when they got ready for a party. It took the mother and daughter 45 minutes to get out the door _after _the father and son were outside waiting in the car." I open my eyes and flipped the bacon again before turning to look up at Tim. He was watching me closely, almost like he was waiting for me to say I was planning on doing something stupid.  
"Quit it." I said when I couldn't take it anymore and moved out of his arms. "You're creepin me out!" Tim smirked and leaned against the counter beside me as I flipped the bacon again and we waited in silence for it to finish cooking. Once it was done, I dumped the bacon onto a plate with paper towel in it to soak up the fat.  
I was about to walk away before realizing Tim was standing by the counter eyeing the bacon.  
"Don't even think about it." I said and walked back over to push him out of the room. "There isn't enough for you, it's all for the guys."  
"Then what are you gonna eat?" Tim asked as he stood by the bar. I turned from where I was standing on the bottom step.  
"I was kind of hoping that you'd take me out for breakfast." I said. Tim rolled his eyes but nodded. I smiled and made my way up the stairs to start banging on doors to wake the boys up.  
"Why are you waking us up so early?" Wes groaned as he stumbled out of the bedroom. "It ain't even 11:30 yet." I rolled my eyes and banged on the door to Tyler's room again when there was no response from the first time.  
"Cause I made breakfast for you guys and it'll get cold if you don't eat it now. Now get ready and get downstairs. Gosh, you guys are like a bunch of kids."  
"And you're a great mother." Liam said sarcastically. I gave him a punch in the side, not hard enough to hurt him but hard enough to shut him up, and started back down the stairs.  
When I got down, I saw Tim sitting on a bar stool with a piece of bacon in his mouth.  
"I said that wasn't for you." I scolded. Tim just looked at me.  
"But I'm hungry." He said and I rolled my eyes.  
"Give me a minute and we can go get food." I walked into the kitchen and pulled plates out of the cupboard before grabbing the bread bag from the bread container on the countertop.  
"Why can't we just go get food at that Dingo place?" Justin asked as he walked into the kitchen.  
"Because I've heard that a NYPD squad is here investigating the vandalisms." I gave him a look that clearly told him what I was thinking, and he was just about to say something when Liam walked into the room.  
"That would mean that they're on to us." He said. I nodded and turned the coffee maker on. "So what? We're not allowed out of the house now?" I sighed and shook my head.  
"That's not what I meant. It's just that the less people who see you, the better. Staying inside during off hours and goin out somewhere quiet at night when people are here just makes it easier to cover up that I haven't done it. Or you guys." I added as the coffee machine went off and I pulled down mugs. "Now you guys can make your own toast and whatever, I'm going out for breakfast."  
"How come you get to go out?" Liam asked as he took a cup and filled it with coffee. I smirked at him as I pulled on my sneakers and took my sweater from Tim who'd taken it from the closet.  
"Cause I have lived here longer and everyone knows I eat out a lot. It won't look strange." I was about to walk out the door before I remembered my purse was upstairs. "I'll meet you in the car, Tim." I said as I jogged back up the stairs. I grabbed my purse from the top of my dresser before making my way back down the stairs.  
The boys were sitting around the room eating whatever they had gotten from the kitchen as I walked to the door.  
"How much longer are we gonna have to put up with this?" Liam asked. I shrugged and opened the door.  
"When I come up with a next step I'll let you know, in the meantime, keep out of sight and don't answer the door for anyone, Buck's gonna be around in a little while, so let him to that." I walked out the door and closed it before any of them could speak up.  
"Weren't there more boys a few weeks ago?" Tim asked as we made our way to the Dingo.  
"Yea, but a bunch of them had to go back to the city for some reason." I said as I leaned against the window. Dark clouds had started to form in the sky and it felt like it might rain. "Liam said there was something going on that they needed to be there for. I don't know what it is, but it must be somewhat important cause he sent a bunch of them back." I sighed as I got out of the car and we walked towards the Dingo. I felt the first drops of rain as we entered the door and walked to a booth in the back so that we wouldn't have anyone listening to our conversation. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do next. I've heard that a squad from the NYPD are here helping with the vandalism." Tim raised an eyebrow as a young guy came over to get our orders.  
"So they're on to you then?" He asked. I nodded.  
"You didn't hear the conversation from the kitchen did you?" I asked as the guy came back with our drinks. Tim shook his head.  
"I was talking to Jason. I didn't hear a thing you said." I rolled my eyes.  
"I was talking to Justin about it, and I think if a squad is here from New York, then they're either here because they're on to me and thought it'd be a good idea to bring in police who've had more experience dealing with me or-"  
"More experience dealing with you?" Tim asked in shock. "You must have been in and out of there a lot for that." I rolled my eyes.  
"I may have gotten into more trouble in New York then I have here." I said as I sipped at my coffee. "But that's not the point, the point is that either they're on to me, or the NYPD are wondering where all the boys went. Liam's told me that they're still causing most of the trouble in the city. Never anything big, just little things that keep the police department chasing after them." I smirked as I thought back to all the trouble we use to cause in New York.  
"And let me guess, you have no idea what's happening, or what everyone is talking about around town, right?" I narrowed my eyes at him.  
"Why do you keep bringing that up?" I asked and watched as he smirked, shrugged his shoulders and leaned back in the booth.  
"Just pointing out something you should be in on with the amount of trouble you've been causing." I shook my head as the waiter came over with our plates.  
"Let's just eat in peace shall we?" I asked. "We can talk about this later." Tim snorted and made a face picking up a piece of bacon.  
"Yes dear." He said sarcastically before he bent the strip of bacon in half and put it in his mouth. I shook my head as I cut into my pancake.

XXX

"My offer still stands." I jolted up from where I'd been falling asleep against the car window. It had started raining while we were eating breakfast and now the roads were slick and you couldn't see very far in front of the car. There was a car in front of us driving extremely slowly, and though normally Tim would just speed past it, it was too dangerous to drive any faster. I don't think many people would take the risk of driving fast in this. Plus the chance of another car coming from the opposite direction while we were passing wasn't worth the risk either.  
"What offer?" I asked with a yawn as I sat up in the seat.  
"To help you with this thing you've gotten yourself into. I know a guy who has a friend, who has a friend that use to be a Greaser but his parents came into some money and they're now living on the other side of town. He's the one who gets most of the information about the Socs that we get. If you want, I can see what he might know about what the Socs are planning." I thought about it for a moment; it would be a nice to know if the Socs planned on surprising all of us with some attack.  
"That'd probably be a good idea." I said as we pulled up to Buck's. "Do you know when that meeting is gonna be?" People had been talking about this meeting for a few days now, though no one seemed to know when it was going to take place.  
Tim shook his head as he shut off the car.  
"I haven't heard anything about a date. Though I've heard that it's gonna be within the week." I nodded and was about to get out of the car, but stopped and turned to him.  
"Can ya drive me over to the Curtis' place?" Tim nodded and put the car back in drive before pulling out of the yard again and turned towards the Curtis'.  
It wasn't that far to walk, but there was no way I was walking in this weather and I needed to talk to Darry. Once we pulled up outside the house, Tim shut the car off and we sat quietly for a second.  
"Do ya want me to wait?" He asked and I shook my head.  
"Naw, it's OK. I'm gonna stick around for a while- shot! Never mind, I gotta get back before those boys get into any sort of trouble. I'll only be a minute." I said and Tim nodded before pulling out his pack of cigarettes.  
"Don't be too long, I gotta be somewhere in a half hour." I rolled my eyes before opening the door and running up the sidewalk to the front steps. I ran my hand back through my now wet hair before opening the door.  
"Hello?" I called. The house was surprising quiet, though I could hear the TV on in the living room. I kicked off my sneakers and walked towards the sound; when I got there, I almost burst out laughing.  
"You guys look really bored." I said. There was a chorus of groans and I laughed.  
Soda and Steve had set up the poker table off to the side of the room, but seemed to have stopped playing and were now just taking cards off the deck, looking at them and setting them down. Darry was sitting in his armchair with his paper folded up beside him, and Two- Bit was hanging upside down on the couch starring blankly at the TV. Ponyboy was sitting beside him with a book in his lap, though his head was lulled back against the back of the couch and he was starring at the ceiling.  
"Anyway," I said as I stood in the doorway. "Can I talk to you, Darry? Alone?" I added when the boy's heads shot up at something interesting happening. "Sorry guys, I'm not here to talk to ya." I smirked as they all groaned and went back to doing nothing.  
"What's up Mia?" Darry asked once we were in the kitchen.  
"I was just wondering if you know anything about the meeting." I asked. Darry raised his eyebrows at me as he reached up to the cupboard to grab a glass.  
"I think I've heard that it's gonna be this Sunday." He said as he took the water from the fridge.  
"This Sunday?" I asked and cursed under my breath. That was 4 days away.  
"That's what I've heard anyway. Why, you wanna go?" I shook my head.  
"I was just curious."  
"I bet you were, considering it's probably gonna be about you." I looked at him and knew Steve or Soda, probably Soda, had said something to him.  
"I highly doubt that." I said. Darry gave me a look that clearly told me he thought I was lying.  
"Listen Mia." He said. "You're like a sister to me, and you know I care about you." I rolled my eyes at where this was going. "So I'm gonna tell you this as a brother looking out for his sister; stop. This isn't gonna help anyone, especially not you. Do you know the kind of trouble you could be in if they catch you?" I shrugged and headed out of the kitchen.  
"I gotta go," I said, brushing off his question. "Tim's waiting for me in the car to take me back to Buck's.  
"Isn't he the perfect boyfriend." Steve called out from the living room. I popped my head in and gave him a look.  
"Better than you." I said and watched his face scrunch up in a scowl. "I gotta go, but I'll talk to you guys later." Darry followed me to the door as I pulled my sneakers back on.  
"I know you're not gonna stop." He said quietly so that the other boys didn't hear. "But please be careful. I've heard from more then one person that the Socs are looking for a fight." I smirked and pulled the hood up on my hoodie.  
"I'll be fine, Darry. You know I will." He sighed and nodded.  
"Yeah, I guess I'll talk to you later then." I nodded and waved over my shoulder as I ran back out to the car.  
"Took you long enough." Tim said as I jumped in and slammed the door shut against the rain. "Whoa! Stay away from me! You're soaked!" I made a face at him as I pulled down the hood of my sweater and flattened out my hair.  
"No duh stupid. I was kind of just outside and if you haven't noticed, it's raining." He rolled his eyes and started up the car again.  
"Just sayin, stay away." I smirked and would have moved close, just to annoy him but I didn't feel like spinning off the road. So I leaned my head against the window for the short drive back to Buck's. I closed my eyes and listened to the water splashing up under the tires and the rain hitting the windshield forcefully. Suddenly Tim hit the breaks and my eyes shot open while my hands flew out to brace myself against the dashboard.  
"What?!" I asked as I leaned back in the seat, waiting for my heart rate to go down a little.  
"I don't think cop normally come to Buck's- scratch that. I _know _cops don't normally come to Buck's." I looked out the window and my eyes widened when I saw the large NYPD printed across the side of two cop cars sitting in the yard.  
"Well," I said as I ran my hand back through my hair. "At least we know now that it ain't just a rumour." Tim gave me a look and I shrugged before motioning for him to continue towards the house.  
_This should be interesting._ I thought as Tim stopped and I watched as two cops got out of their car to stand in front of ours.

_What's said is said, what's done is done  
I can't undo who I've become  
How wickedly, how wickedly life has made a lesson out of me_

XXX

Wahoo!1 Just over 3 thousand words! Very happy!

I'd really like at least one review before I post the next chapter, I miss the feedback about the story.

~Stay Gold!


	24. Chapter 24: Making plans

A/N: This is from Tim's POV.  
Also, I love this song soo much! I'd forgotten who sang it, but I'm always singing the chorus in my head. :p I always have some song in my head.

_Beautiful mess_ by Diamond Rio

XXX  
_Going out of my mind these days,  
Like I'm walkin' round in a haze.  
I can't think straight, I can't concentrate.  
And I need a shave._

I looked out the windshield as the cops got out of their car and stood in front of mine.  
"Well at least we know it ain't just a rumour." Mia said from her place in the passenger seat beside me. I nodded and glanced over at her. She seemed surprisingly calm for someone who had police standing in front of her possibly about to accuse her of a serious crime.  
"I don't want to go out in the rain." She mopped and I smirked.  
"Suck it up princess." She glared at me but didn't make any farther comments. "We should probably get out and talk to them." She rolled her eyes.  
"Or we could just turn around and go somewhere else." She said, but was already getting ready to run out the door to the house. "I hope the boys have gone somewhere to hide." I nodded my head in agreement before we opened ours doors and started for the house. One of the cops stopped me with an arm across my chest and I turned to tell him off when I saw the other cop had done the same to Mia.  
"We need to speak with you two." The officer holding me back said over the rain.  
"Well if you'd let us go, we could have a better conversation inside out of the rain." Mia retorted. I smirked as she side stepped them and headed for the house. I followed behind her, while the cops followed me. I turned to see that two more cops had gotten out of the other police car and were following as well.  
As I entered the house, I noticed that it was quiet, far too quiet for a house that was supposed to have a bunch of boys living in it. Mia seemed to notice it too, because she was looking around as she pulled off her sweater. Though after a moment, she turned to look at the police standing in the doorway.  
"Now what do y'all want?" She asked. The police pulled down the hoods of the jackets they were wearing and I watched Mia's eyes widen a little, and then a smirk crawled across her lips. "Well, officer Brian. Long time no see; I would've thought you'd be retired by now." One of the officers stepped forward.  
"You're very funny, Baker." He said. "But now is not the time to catch up on lost time. I assume you've heard about why we're here." Mia shrugged.  
"I've heard things around town, but then again information isn't always reliable around here. Would you guys like something to drink?" I could almost laugh at how she was acting, but I kept my mouth shut as I walked past her and into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.  
When I walked back into the room, the cops were all sitting on the bar stools while Mia sat on the couch. I walked over and sat beside her, resting my arm across the back of the couch behind her. The cop who Mia'd referred to as Officer Brian looked over at me.  
"We heard about Winston." He said. "Such a pity, you two were very close." I sensed Mia stiffen, but she kept her cool.  
"It is unfortunate that it had to happen that way." She said simply as she took my beer and gulped some down before passing it back. "Now would you mind telling me why you're here and what you want?" Officer Brian sat up straighter.  
"I'm sure you've heard about the vandalisms." Mia nodded.  
"Kind of hard not to hear about something when it's all people ever talk about." She said.  
"Well we have reason to believe it was you." Mia raised an eyebrow like this was news to her.  
"And what reason would that be?" She asked. "Why would I do something like that?"  
"I can't disclose information about the case." Officer Brian said. "Though I can tell you that it can't just be a coincidence that within the same time of the vandalisms, your old gang members suddenly stopped causing trouble back in the City."  
"Don't look at me; I don't know where they are." Mia said. "I haven't seen those boys since Dally and I left New York. I haven't had any contact with any of them since then." I bit my tongue to keep from laughing at how well she was pulling off the innocent look, though Officer Brian didn't seem to believe that she didn't have something to do with it.  
The two of them starred at each other for a long time before the cop stood up.  
"I'm sure you understand that I don't believe you." He said. Mia shrugged as she took my beer again and drank almost the rest of it. "I should inform you that if we find enough evidence to show that it was you, we'll be taking you back to serve your time in New York." I almost choked on my drink when the words reached my brain. Back to New York? Why couldn't she just serve the time here if she ended up caught?  
"That's a bit dramatic isn't it?" Mia asked from beside me. Officer Brian shrugged.  
"Nothing's too dramatic when it comes to you, Baker. I'm sure I recall you being the one who put on an act every time we picked you up." Mia smirked but didn't say anything. "Considering the size of the town, you've probably heard about the meeting." Mia nodded and yawned like she was getting bored of this conversation. "Maybe you should show up, for you it'd probably entertaining to see the town in a panic."  
"I've seen the town in a panic before, it's not very interesting." Officer Brian raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything as the four cops made their way back to the door and pulled up the hoods of their jackets.  
"Oh and Mia." Brian turned around before heading out the door. "If, by any chance, those boys are here. I'm sure you know the kind of trouble you'll be in if they're caught in this house with you."  
"I know that." Mia said as she stretched out across the couch, resting her legs across mine while she closed her eyes; effectively bringing an end to the conversation.  
I watched out the window behind the couch as the cops got back into their cars and drove off into the rain.  
"Are they gone?" I turned to Mia who still had her eyes closed and her arms crossed behind her head.  
"Yea they're gone." I said. I watched as her eyes opened and she jumped off the couch. "What's the rush?" I asked as I followed her to the basement door.  
"Hello?" She called down into the darkness. "It's safe to come up if you're down there guys." There was a suddenly commotion that crept up from the black before Mia flicked on the lights. A loud groan came up the stairs as I saw Liam appear at the bottom of the steps.  
"A warning would have been nice." He said as he started up, followed by the rest of the boys who were rubbing at their eyes to get them use to the light again.  
"Too bad, how long were the cops sitting out in the yard?" Mia asked as she closed the door to the basement.  
"I don't know, maybe 15- 20 minutes before you showed up." Liam was still rubbing at his eyes and blinking them rapidly.  
"Is it possible that they saw any of you?" Liam shook his head.  
"We were all up in our rooms with the lights off after we ate breakfast when we heard them pull in. They came to the door but since Buck never got home they stopped knocking and just sat in their cars. We managed to sneak down the stairs and into the basement without going near a window." Mia nodded and ran a hand back through her hair. It was a nervous habit that I'd noticed she did whenever she was thinking hard about something.  
"OK, I found out that the meeting is going to be this Sunday at the high school. That only gives us a few days to get word out that we're going to have a fight." She turned to me. "Can you talk to that guy and see what he knows?" I nodded. "And see if he can find a way to get the Socs angry enough to show up at the high school. I know they're already angry, but we need something to push them over the edge. Straw to break the camels back so to speak." I nodded.  
"I'll see what I can do." I said then looked at the time on the clock hanging on the wall. "I gotta get goin; I have people I need to meet. Tell Buck that I'm still interested in that rodeo job he offered." Mia nodded and followed me out to the door.  
"I'll do that." She said. "Can you also see if you can get the Brumly Boys to get in on the fight?" I nodded.  
"I'm sure every gang is gonna want to get in on this fight. Considering they've all been blamed for the vandalisms." She smirked and leaned in the doorway as I stepped out onto the porch. It was a good thing it had a hangover piece to it, or I'd've been soaked by now.  
"You know," She said over the rain. "We've only had one date." I smirked.  
"How about Saturday?" I asked. "Since Sunday is kind of a write off, and possible a while after that." She laughed and nodded.  
"Saturday sounds good." She leaned out the door and gave me a kiss before pulling back. "I'll talk to you tomorrow or something about the exchange of information." I nodded and turned to head for my car, waving over my shoulder as I went.  
As I turned to key in the ignition, I looked up to see her still standing in the doorway watching me. I smirked as the car started and I pulled out of the yard.

XXX

It was Friday before I managed to get around to Buck's again to talk with her about the fight plans. I walked into the house to see her sitting on the couch with a pad of paper in her hand while she chewed on the end of her pen.  
"That's probably not a good thing to do." I pointed out, referring to the pen. She looked up and smirked at me before turning back to her pad of paper.  
"I'm pretty sure I'll live." She said as she scribbled something down. I sat down beside her and looked over her shoulder. I saw lines and arrows pointing all over the page.  
"What are you doing?" I asked. It took me a moment to recognize the shape the lines formed. "Why are you drawing the high school?" Mia looked at me.  
"I'm surprised you even know what the high school looks like." I rolled my eyes.  
"I did go to school, Mia." I said. "Now why are you drawing the school?"  
"It's part of the plan." She said. I raised an eyebrow at her.  
"How so?"  
"We're gonna lock the doors so that the parents can't get out. I want them to see that it's not just Greasers who cause the problems and make trouble." She sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Did you talk to that guy?" I nodded my head.  
"Yea, he said he'd spread the word around with the Socs. I also talked to one of the guys in the Brumly Boys gang. He said that they were in for the fight and that he'd see what he could do about getting more people." Mia nodded her head but seemed distracted with drawing the building. "So you're really gonna lock the parents inside the school? Isn't that a bit over the top?" Mia shrugged and turned to me with a grin.  
"Like officer Brian said, nothing's too dramatic when it comes to me." I shook my head.  
"That's great Mia. Have you thought about Saturday?" She gave me a looked that clearly said she hadn't.  
"Of course I have." She said sarcastically to counter her look. "I was thinking we'd fly to Paris and have a nice 5 star dinner and then end the evening at the opera before coming back home on our private jet. How does that sound?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head.  
"I hate the opera. We'll have to find something else to do after that 5 star dinner." She laughed and I smiled. This is gonna sound sappy, but I love it when she laughs. It's a nice sound to hear over the yelling and screaming and crashing that seems to be going on everywhere else in this town.  
"That's funny, Tim." She said as she tossed the pen and notepad onto the coffee table and moved a bit closer. "But unless you have some money stashed away somewhere, there's not gonna be a 5 star dinner after we take our private jet to Paris. Though I'd love to go to Paris someday." I smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  
"I'd like to go to Calgary for that Calgary stampede they have up there, I bet it'd be fun to go see." Mia shook her head.  
"You boys and your horses. I didn't even know you were that into horses." I shrugged my shoulders.  
"I've never been crazy for'em. But I like riding them in the town rodeos once and a while."  
"Dally loved riding. It was one of the very few things he did without cheating, even though Buck tried to get him to help with some of his schemes." I chuckled.  
"Buck's always looking for a way to earn money." I said as I rested my feet up on the coffee table. It was then that I noticed it was quiet in the house.  
"I thought the boys ain't allowed out of the house unless it was of dire importance."  
"I did. They're down in the basement brushing up on some fight techniques, and working out. They've been really lazy since they got here. Plus I've been feeding them half decent meals, so they haven't had to get up and go out to eat." I nodded and yawned. "You sound tired." I shrugged.  
"I've had stuff on my mind, haven't been sleeping all that well." She turned her head to look at me and ran a hand over my jaw.  
"Haven't had time to shave either?" She asked with a smirk. "Must be some heavy thoughts." I rolled my eyes.  
"Yup, really heavy thoughts." I said. Truth was, a lot of the thoughts were about her and the amount of trouble she could get in for what she was doing/ planning on doing.  
I ran a hand down my face, feeling the stubble on my jaw as my hand ran over it.  
"I gotta get home and shave." I grumbled. I hated beards. I thought guys with those long ones were weird. Most of the time I kept mine shaved off completely.  
"Have fun with that then." Mia said as she yawned too. "I don't know what we're gonna do Saturday." I smirked and leaned over to kiss her cheek.  
"I'll think of something." I said as I stood up. "You look like your brain could use some time off of being used." She smiled as she stretched out on the couch, folding one arm behind her head to act as a pillow.  
"Probably. I think I've been working it overtime lately." I smirked as I headed for the door.  
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, Mia." I called over my shoulder as I opened the door.  
"Later, Tim." Her voice floated out as the door shut behind me and I made my way to my car.

_What a beautiful mess!  
What a beautiful mess I'm in.  
Spendin' all my time with you,  
There's nothin' else I'd rather do.  
What a sweet addiction that I'm caught up in.  
'Cos I can't get enough_  
XXX

I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter. Reviews would be much appreciated.  
Final note: there's only gonna be 2 more chapters after this one. :( I know, I'm gonna be sad when it's over. But I've stretched it out by a chapter because I thought I was only going to have one more chapter after this. I'm getting close to finishing chapter 25, it should be up soon I hope.

~Stay Gold!


	25. Chapter 25: Final night

A/N: This one is going to be Mia and Tim's second date. Funny how their dates get full chapters to themselves. :p  
Also, at the end of the chapter, there is some implied mature content. Nothing drastic, like you'd barely know it's there, but it's implied. Just a heads up.

Halo by Beyoncé

XXX

_Remember those walls I built?  
Well, baby they're tumbling down  
And they didn't even put up a fight  
They didn't even make a sound  
I found a way to let you in  
But, I never really had a doubt  
Standing in the light of your halo  
I got my angel now  
_  
I walked out of the kitchen with an ice cold lemonade drink in my hand and sat down on the floor with my back to the chair, the fan I'd found in a closet blowing cool air into my face.  
It was spring, yet felt like the middle of summer. The heat was crazy, not to mention the humidity that hung in the air. I was dying!  
Just then the door opened and I looked up from my drink to see Tim walk through the door.  
"Hey, Tim." I said as I tipped my glass back in an attempt to get one of the ice cubes out.  
"Hey." He said as he came over to sit beside me, but I held up a hand and shoved him away.  
"Don't come near me." I said. "It's far too hot to be close to other people." He raised an eyebrow at me and sat down on the floor with his back to the couch.  
"Where are the guys now?" He asked pushing a button on the fan so that it spun around in a half circle.  
"Down in the basement soaking up all the cold air available." I said as I all but sucked back the rest of the lemonade. "It's gonna be a boiler down there soon with all the heat they give off." Tim smirked and nudged me with his foot. I recoiled at the intense warmth that even that little bit of contact had.  
"So when do you want to head out for our date?" He asked, and I shrugged.  
"Whenever, it doesn't matter to me really." I looked at the clock over the bar. It was 2:45. "Sometime when the heat goes down a bit." He grinned and I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?" He stood up and held out his hand for me to take.  
"Or we could go now and find a way to beat the heat." I raised an eyebrow at him but took his hand and stood up, but I retracted it when I felt the heat burn against my skin.  
"So where are we going then?" I asked as I walked towards the basement door to yell down to the boys that I was going out. There was a collective groan from the dark and I smirked. They were probably all sitting around trying to be as far away from each other as possible so that they didn't feel the body heat rise as quickly.  
"It'll be a surprise." Tim said as I grabbed my purse off the counter of the bar and followed him out into the heat. I nearly choked as I was hit with a blast of it when the door opened.  
"This better be worth the suffering." I complained as I opened the car door and slide inside. I groaned as the heat intensified in the small space and my legs stuck to the seat.  
"Stop complaining." Tim said as he turned the key and pulled out o the yard. I narrowed my eyes at him and leaned back against the seat. My skin that was exposed by my tank top stuck to the seat as well, and I huffed in annoyance. Wherever we were going better be worth all this heat.

XXX

When we arrived at the same diner where we'd gone on our first date, I couldn't help but think that this hadn't been my idea of a way to cool off.  
"What are you mopping for?" Tim asked as he opened his door.  
"This wasn't my idea of a way to cool off." I said as I slumped in my seat for a moment before reaching for the door handle. But before I got it opened, Tim was around the car, opening it for me.  
I looked up at him for a moment before I stepped out.  
"What's with you?" I asked. "I normally have to open my own door." Tim smirked before taking my hand as we walked into the diner. Even with the heat I felt pulsing between us, I didn't remove my hand from his.  
"I figure; since this will be our last date for awhile, why not make it special?" I thought I was hearing things.  
"What do you mean?" I managed to ask. He looked at me as he opened the door and allowed me to step into the diner. I was greeted with a blast of cold air and I sighed in relief.  
"I mean," Tim said as we walked to the same booth we were at last time. "That I want to spend the rest of the day together. Just the two of us." I was shocked at this statement. It's very rare to find a guy on this side of town who wants to spend time with his girlfriend beside at parties. I wasn't prepared for Tim to say he wanted to just spend a day with me. Dally did it once, and only after I'd bugged him into it for weeks beforehand.  
"Sure." I heard the word come out of my mouth before my brain had fully registered what I was saying. I blinked to focus my attention on him and saw him smirking.  
Just then, the same guy who'd brought us our food last time came over to take our orders and get us drinks. I ordered an ice cream sundae with an ice tea, and Tim ordered a chocolate milkshake.  
We waited quietly for our drinks, in which time I decided to prop my feet up on the opposite booth seat. I hid the smile that tried to creep up my face when Tim pulled my feet up on his leg and lazily ran his hand from my knee to my foot and back up. It wasn't meant to be a pass; it was just him being sweet. This was really starting to creep me out a little; but in a nice, weird sort of way.  
The boy came back with our food a moment later and I took a bite of the sundae before relaxing back against the seat, sipping at my ice tea.  
"That's so nice and cold." I sighed and took another spoonful before turning it towards Tim. "Want a bite?" He leaned over the table a bit and took the spoon to eat off the ice cream.  
"That's pretty good." He said as he handed back the spoon and tilted his milkshake cup towards me for me to take a drink from it. I smiled as the cool chocolate flavoured shake slid down my throat.  
"That's a really good shake." I said. "Far better then the ones you get at the Dingo." Tim nodded and we both finished our treats quietly.  
When we were done, Tim dropped the money on the table and we walked out the door. Tim walked around the car and opened up my door so I could slide into the heated interior.  
I fanned myself with my hand as Tim slid into the driver's seat and closed the door.  
"So much for being cooled down." I complained. The instant the doors closed on the car, the heat inside it nearly suffocated me.  
"I've got a plan." Tim said as he pulled out of the parking lot and turned back towards Buck's. "You're probably going to want another set of clothes." I looked over at him.  
"What?" I asked. Tim turned and smirked at me.  
"You heard me; you need a change of clothes." I narrowed my eyes but didn't say anything as we turned onto the road leading to Buck's.  
"I'll just be a minute." I said as I opened the door and ran up to the door. As I started across the floor to the stairs, Liam came up from the basement.  
"You're back early." He said. I shook my head and stared up the stairs.  
"I'm only here for a moment." I called down as I walked up. "Tim said I need a change of clothes, why I can only guess." I grabbed a new set of clothes out of my dresser and managed to stuff it all into my purse before moving back down the stairs.  
"I can probably make a good guess." I narrowed my eyes at him.  
"I think you should keep out of something that isn't any of your business." I snapped and Liam smirked.  
"Someone's touchy." He said as he headed back to the basement. "You always did get snappy in the heat, and in the cold..." He turned with his on the doorknob. "Come to think of it, you're snappy no matter what the weather." I rolled my eyes and headed for the door.  
"Cause you're any different." I called over my shoulder as I walked out the door and closed it before he could make another comment.  
"Took you long enough." Tim said as I got back into the car and we took off down the road. "I was about to leave without you." I sighed and shook my head.  
"You boys and your limited patients." I said. "Now where are we going?" Tim smirked as he took the road that lead to Billy's trailer.  
"It's a surprise, but I think you'll like it." I gave a slight nod of my head as we passed by Billy's and continued down the road for a few minutes before Tim pulled off to the side of the road.  
I opened my door and, once again, felt the blast of heat hit me in the face like a wave.  
"This better be good." I grumbled as Tim came around the car and took my hand. "Why are we here?" He pointed at a path that looked like it lead down to the lake at the bottom. It was worn down by the traffic that probably came through here over the summer. "We're going for a walk down to a lake? Doesn't that entitle being in the sun?" Tim shook his head as we made our way down the path. It was sheltered in a few places by the trees that loomed over it, and I relished in the slightest coolness that came with the shade.  
Once we reached the bottom, I looked out over the water.  
"It looks nice and cold." I said and turned to Tim, only to find that he had disappeared. "Tim!?" I spun around quickly when I heard someone laughing. I hadn't noticed on the way down, but off to the side of the lake was a low cliff; Tim was standing on a rock that acted as a step to get up to the top of it.  
"What are you doing?" I asked as I walked over to stand at the bottom and look up at him.  
"I'm going up to the top so I can jump off. Coming?" I starred up at him.  
"You've got to be joking." I said, even as I started up after him. "That water's probably ice cold! It hasn't been that warm long enough to heat it up yet!" I took hold of his hand and let him pull me up onto the top of the cliff. I walked to the edge and looked over at the water. It was dark, and though looked cooling from up here in the heat of the sun, I knew it was bitter cold.  
"Don't be such a baby." Tim said as he came up beside me. "You've been complaining about the heat all day, this will cool you off nicely." I took a step back from the edge. "Oh come on. Don't be a chicken." I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest.  
"I'm not a chicken." I pouted. "I know that I'll jump and you'll just watch me go down, probably laughing your head off the whole time. You can jump first if you're so eager to freeze." Tim shrugged and back up a few steps before running off the edge.  
My eyes widened and I scrambled to the edge to watch him hit the water below with a splash. I watched for him to come back up and shook my head with a smirk on my face when he came up cursing.  
"You're insane!" I called down to him and he looked up at me with a smirked.  
"The price to pay for putting up with you." He yelled back up at me. My smirk slid away as my jaw fell and I gaped at him for a second before backing up a few steps and taking a running jump off the cliff. I was halfway down before I realized that he'd said that knowing that I'd jump. Oh well, too late to turn back now.  
I hit the water with a sharp slap and immediately felt it pricking at me skin. It felt like millions of tiny needles being driven into my arms and legs. The air felt like it had been compressed from my lungs and I scrambled to get back to the surface.  
I gasped as my head reached above the water level and I took a few deep breaths. That was when I noticed Tim laughing his head off.  
"Not f- funny." I stuttered. I could already feel myself starting to shiver. "This water is f- freezing!" Tim smirked as he swam closer and wrapped an arm around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he managed to keep us both above water.  
"Are you cooled off now?" He asked with a smirk as he did a one handed dog paddle towards the shoreline. I rolled my eyes but smiled and nodded  
"Yea, I'm all n-nice and c-cool. Cool as a P-Popsicle." He chuckled as he pulled my around to sit on the edge of the very steep drop off in the water before he pulled himself up beside me.  
The top of the water was still chilly, but having the hot sun beating down on it all day had heated it up enough that I didn't mind sitting there for a few moments before I was shivering again.  
"I think I'm all done now." I said as I rubbed at my arms a bit. Tim nodded and stood up before offering me his hand to pull me up. But as soon as I was standing, he let go and shoved me backwards into the deeper water. I screamed until I went under the water. I came up gasping for air and choking on the water I'd swallowed.  
"You jerk!" I cried as I swam back over to the drop off where Tim was laughing his head off. He was bent over laughing so hard he was shaking. I pulled myself out of the water enough to grab his arm and pull him back down.  
We ended up spending almost an hour in the water, splashing and dunking each other under until the chill that was crawling up our skin was too much to handle any longer.  
"See why I told you to bring extra clothes?" Tim asked from outside the car while I changed in the backseat.  
"Yea." I said as I pulled on my dry tank top and piled my hair up in a messy bun on the back of my head, to keep it away from my back.  
I stepped out of the car to see that Tim had already changed into dry clothes as well.  
"You had this planned didn't you?" I asked and he shrugged before tossing his wet clothes into the backseat. They landed on the floor with a splat.  
"Maybe. Want to go get something to eat?" He asked and I nodded. He turned the car around and we made the short trip to Billy's.  
"I hate to guess what you two have been doing." Billy said when we stepped up to the side of the trailer to order.  
"We went swimming in the lake." Tim said as he pulled out his wallet. We didn't even need to tell him what we wanted, we'd come here enough over the past few months or so and ordered the same thing every time.  
Billy laughed as he took the money.  
"You kids are crazier then I thought!" He said as he turned to the grill behind him. "Swimming at this time of year! You're both gonna catch a cold!" I laughed a little, but was thinking he was probably right. I was still cold and I could feel it all through me.  
"I'll go get my jacket." Tim said like he had read my thoughts. He jogged back to the car and came back with the jacket that he always kept in it. I slid it on and wrapped it tightly around myself as we waited for our food.

XXX

Hours later, Tim and I were lying out on the hood of the car, watching the night sky as the stars slowly appeared. I sighed and snuggled closer to him and wrapped the blanket he'd found in the trunk tighter around me.  
"What's with you?" Tim asked.  
"I was just thinking about what's gonna happen tomorrow." I said. "Even if they can't pin me for the vandalisms, I'm gonna get sent back to New York to serve whatever time they give me for 'disturbing the peace'." Tim shifted beside me and I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders.  
"I've been meaning to ask what that Brian guy meant when he said that you'd be in trouble if they found out the boys were staying at Buck's. What'd he mean by that?" I sighed.  
"Those boys ain't allowed out of New York. It's against their probation and what not. Their probation time keeps piling up, and technically they can't leave New York for, I think, almost a 3 year time period. Because they illegally left the state, they're fugitives. So, I'm technically harbouring fugitives- which is against the law. Obviously.

When Dally and I left, we weren't allowed to be out of the state either. Though our time was going to be up in a month or so, so I highly doubt they'll nail me with that when they take me back." Tim was silent for a long time and I turned my head to look at him.  
"It's gonna be a while before you're back here again." He said finally and I nodded slowly. It was going to be months before I came back to Tulsa. My tongue felt heavy with words I wanted to say, but didn't know how to put them together.  
"I'm gonna miss you." I finally blurted out. I bit my tongue in an attempt to keep my mouth shut from saying anything else that would imply some sort of attachment. But when I looked up to see what Tim's reaction was, I found myself spewing out a jumbled mess of words. "You've been so helpful since Dally died, I mean, right after the funeral you were standing there waiting to take me back to Buck's. You've taken me out to lunch all the time, and though we've only had two dates, they've been some of the best dates of my life." I paused, looking up at the endless view of stars. "Dally rarely took me out for dates. Like formal dates, that were planned in advance and thought about. It was always kind of like 'Hey I've got a free night, let's go out' or 'I just heard that there's a rodeo show going on this afternoon, grab some money and let's go before there isn't a place in the bull riding competition left'." I stopped. "Dallas meant a lot to me, but I did enjoy being treated like his _girlfriend _sometimes, not just his _girl_." I took a deep breath not really knowing where I was trying to go with this conversation. "I almost wish I'd just left the Socs alone." I finally said after I'd half collected my thoughts. "More then likely this isn't going to end the fighting, it's just gonna keep it going. I'll move out of Tulsa before I deal with anymore of this. Not like I have a choice though with this, I started it, I can't back out of it now." I'd shifted around on the hood of the car and now my feet were dangling off the side, while my head rested on Tim's chest. His arm was draped across my waist, our hands linked together.  
We sat quietly for a few moments, enjoying the silence besides the sound of the lake gently lapping at the shore below us.  
"I'm gonna miss you too." I turned my head to look at him, and saw him smiling down at me. "It's gonna be pretty dull around here without you causing trouble." I smiled and let my eyes slide closed before I opened them again. When I did, Tim was watching me intently. It suddenly seemed like an invisible force was pushing me towards him, and I found my face inches away from his. We starred at each other for what seemed like forever before our lips met, and I closed my eyes.

XXX

I made a circle in the steam on the window and looked out at the stars. I didn't have a watch, and neither did Tim. But I figured it had to be after midnight at this point.  
Tim shifted beside me and I felt his arm drape over my waist as he rested his head on my shoulder. I turned a little to look at him, and smiled. I'd never seen him with his hair messed up, falling out of it's regularly well greased form, and I found I like it better this way; and his eyes. They were still as black as ever, but it seemed like the hardness that always filled them had melted away, and I was looking at him, not who he wanted everyone to see.  
"We should really head back." I whispered. The silence that filled the car was wonderfully peaceful, and I didn't want it to ever end.  
"Probably." Tim said as he kissed my shoulder, and then my cheek. He leaned back and used his jacket as a pillow before closing his eyes. "Night, Angel." I felt my smile start to widen across my face as I took in the new nickname, but I managed to keep most of it off my face.  
I pulled the blanket closer around me and let my head relax on his arm that was resting across the seat.  
"Night." I replied quietly, drifting off in the comforting silence that filled the air around us.

_Everywhere I'm looking now  
I'm surrounded by your embrace  
Baby, I can see your halo  
You know you're my saving grace  
You're everything I need and more  
It's written all over your face  
Baby, I can feel your halo  
I pray it won't fade away_

XXX

How was that? What did you think of the ending? I was having a really hard time trying to decide if I wanted it to end like that or not.  
So the next chapter probably won't be up for a while, I'm thinking like a few weeks- maybe closer to a month. :( I've got exams coming up really soon, and I've already started to make an effort to start studying for them. I'd much rather be writing this story and finishing it up, but you know, school work and all that fun stuff that we spend so much time doing. :p So yea, it's gonna be a while.  
Reviews are much appreciated! I haven't gotten any for the past couple chapters and would really like some feedback on what you guys think of it.

~Stay Gold!


	26. Chapter 26: Our final moments

A/N: Hurray! Final chapter! It's been almost a year, but it's finally done. Please enjoy this final chapter in No Safe Place, and I hope everyone who has been reading this will continue to read my other stories.

Also, I love this song a lot. I think it really fits Mia's life at this point with everything she's been going through since Dally died. I would highly suggest listening to it.

_Life ain't always beautiful _by Gary Allen

XXX

_Life ain't always beautiful  
Sometimes it's just plain hard  
Life can knock you down, it can break your heart  
Life ain't always beautiful  
You think you're on your way  
And it's just a dead end road at the end of the day  
But the struggles make you stronger  
And the changes make you wise  
And happiness has its own way of takin it's sweet time_

I stepped out of the car once Tim had stopped outside Buck's and walked towards the door of the house.  
"So what's your plan for the day before tonight?" Tim asked as he followed me through the door. I shrugged as I kicked off my shoes and walked towards the stairs.  
"I don't know." I said. "Relax, get ready for tonight." I was about to start up the stairs, but felt arms wrap around my waist and pull me back.  
"Or we could go out somewhere." Tim said as he kissed my cheek. I smirked and squirmed out of his arms.  
"Or, we could get some rest." I said as I stood on the bottom step. "Considering last night, and how late it was before we got to sleep." Tim smirked as he leaned against the railing of the stairs.  
"Fine." Tim said. "I'll let you rest." I rolled my eyes at the tone of his voice.  
"I'll see you tonight." I said as I leaned over. Tim leaned up and kissed me before pulling back.  
"See you tonight." He said before turning towards the door, and walking out into the early morning sunlight.  
I watched him go before making my way up the stairs to check on the boys before going to my own room to get some rest before I had to get up later to get ready.  
As I walked into my room, I realized I probably needed a shower and grabbed clean clothes before walking towards the bathroom.  
As I reached for the handle, it turned and Buck walked out, his hair wet from his own shower.  
"Hey, where were you last night?" He asked.  
"Out." I said as I tossed my stuff onto the floor of the bathroom and turned to lean in the doorway. "Tim took me out yesterday." Buck raised an eyebrow, and I could already tell what he was thinking.  
"All night?" He asked. I rolled my eyes and nodded my head. "Did you enjoy your night out?" I laughed, trying to keep my cheeks from turning bright red.  
"That," I said as I started to close the door. "Is none of your business." The door clicked closed, but I heard Buck chuckle.  
I quickly showered and pulled on my clean clothes before walking back to my room, hoping to get at least an hour or two of sleep.

XXX

By the time I woke up, I could hear loud voices downstairs, followed by a crash and cursing. I rolled off my side to my back and stretched my arms above my head and rested there for a moment, starring up at the ceiling.  
The door to my room opened and I turned away from the ceiling to see Tim standing in the doorway. He'd greased his hair back again, and his eyes were back to being their normal black depths of unreadable emotions.  
"Hey." I said as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "What was that crash?" He shrugged and sat down on the bed beside me.  
"Just Tyler knocking over the coffee table. It had a glass of water on it, it broke." I shook my head and rolled my eyes as I folded my hands behind my head.  
"Figures. What time is it?" I asked as I turned to the alarm clock. It read 5:34 and I did a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.  
"I slept that long?!" I asked as I turned to look at Tim. He shrugged again and ran a hand back through his hair.  
"I slept just as long." He said. "After I dropped you off I was ready to fall asleep on the drive home." I smirked and reached my hand up to push a loose strand of hair out of his face.  
"I don't get that much sleep on a regular night." I said. "What time did you even drop me off anyway?" I tried to think back to what time it had been.  
"I think it was 6 something." Tim said as he pushed my hand away. "But like you said, considering how late it was before we got to sleep lat night, we needed to sleep." I saw a glint in his eyes as he leaned down and I smirked as his lips met mine. I closed my eyes, absorbed in the moment, until I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. I opened my eyes and saw Buck standing there with a raised eyebrow.  
I cleared my throat and Tim pulled back, turning to the doorway as well.  
"Sorry to interrupt." Buck said, though he didn't sound that sorry. "But you gotta take those boys out of this house." I rolled my eyes but nodded and got up out of the bed.  
"OK, let me get ready and I'll take them out for lunch." I said as I started to dig through my drawer for something to wear.  
"I'll come with you." Tim said as he stood from the bed and walked to the doorway. I smiled to myself as the door closed, closing off any argument I might have started.

XXX

10 minutes later, Tim pulled into the Dingo, followed by the two cars that the boys had come in. They kept the cars parked a few blocks away from Buck's to keep suspicion away from the house.  
"I'm not paying for all of you." I said as I pulled off my sunglasses as we entered the restaurant. Liam rolled his eyes as he slide into a booth, followed by Justin. The other boys piled themselves into the next two booths, while Tim and I slid into the one at the far end.  
"This will probably be our last meal." I said as I rested my head on his shoulder when he put his arm around me.  
"Probably." He said. I thought I heard a note of sadness in his voice, but shook it off as my mind playing tricks with me. We made small talk after the waiter had taken our orders and we were waiting.  
"Mia, Tim." We both turned to see Steve and Soda walking towards the table.  
"Hey, guys." I said as I moved to sit up straight. "What are you guys doin'?" Soda shrugged as he slid into the booth, followed by Steve.  
"Just hangin' around." He said. "What are you guys doin'?"  
"Waiting to eat so that we can go back to Buck's." I said. "We have stuff to do before that meeting tonight."  
"I bet you do." Steve said. I kicked his shin under the table at what he was implying.  
"Not that, stupid." I said. Steve smirked, even as he leaned down to rub at his leg where it was soon going to have a nasty bruise.  
"Steve, Soda." Once again, I turned to see Evie and another girl walking towards our table. "Hi Mia." Evie said. "Long time no see." I nodded my head.  
"It's definitely been awhile " I agreed. Evie was one of the few girls who I didn't mind spending time with around here. She had black hair and brown eyes, and most of the time didn't wear a whole lot of makeup.  
"We should really get together sometime." She broke into my thoughts. "Plan a day at the mall or something." I nodded.  
"That sounds great." I said then turned to the girl standing next to Evie. "I don't believe we've met." I said. The girl smiled shyly.  
"No, but I've heard of you all around town. You're quite popular, though not always in the best way." She said. "I'm Stephanie Alan. I just moved here last week." I smiled, her comment about bring popular in a bad way didn't surprise me, I knew that already.  
"And you've already caught Soda's attention?" I asked teasingly as I turned to him. He raised an eyebrow as if to say 'What do you think?' and I laughed. I was happy that he was trying to move on from Sandy. He hadn't been on any dates as far as I knew since she left town.  
"We'd better go." Soda said when the waiter came over with our food. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you around Tim." I knew he already knew what was going on, and that it'd be awhile before they saw me again after this.  
"Definitely." Tim said. Steve and Soda turned to me.  
"We'll see you soon." Steve said. Though from the look he gave me, I knew it was just a cover up so that the girls didn't start asking questions.  
"Yea," I said with a nod. "Soon." I smiled as they walked off and I turned to dig into my food. Probably my last decent meal for awhile.

XXX

After we ate, we ended up back at Buck's.  
"We have about an hour and a half." I said as we walked into the house. "Damn, it's still hot!" It wasn't as hot out as it had been yesterday, but the sun was starting to go down now, so it'd be cool soon. "We need to finalize where we're meeting." I hoped up on the counter in the kitchen. The boys piled in and I accepted the beer Tim passed me from the fridge. "We're going to need to wait around for a little while before we lock up the school. I don't know how many parents plan on showing up right on time, so we'll have to wait until they stop going in before we lock up the doors. The Socs probably won't be there for a few minutes after that, but the other Greaser gangs should be there almost as soon as the meeting starts." I thought back to everything I'd gone over in my mind beforehand to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. "You all know your posts at the school." I said. "So I think that's it. Be ready to leave in an hour." The boys left the kitchen, heading for their rooms to pack up the few belongings they'd brought with them. That left me and Tim alone in the kitchen.  
"So what are you planning to do for an hour?" He asked. I shrugged and sipped at my beer.  
"I don't know, why?" I smirked at him and raised my eyebrows. "You have something in mind." It was his turn to shrug, but the gleam in his eyes told me exactly what he was thinking.  
"Maybe." He said and I laughed when he moved closer.  
"I don't think so." I said as I pushed at his shoulder to move him away. "It's still too warm out."  
"You weren't complaining last night."  
"You dunked me in ice cold water first." I pointed out, but smiled as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and rested my head beside his.  
"I didn't dunk you." Tim said as he finished the rest of his beer, put the bottle on the counter and rested his hands on my arms that wrapped around him. "You jumped yourself, I just helped you along." I rolled my eyes but didn't argue. It was quiet for a moment, then Tim turned around to face me. I let my hands drop down his arms to rest on the edge of the counter, gripping it when I leaned closer. Our lips met and I felt like time slowed down; Cliché as it might sound.  
I was the first to pull away, and smirked as I leaned back to keep out of Tim's range of movement.  
"Back off, Timmy." I said with a smirk when he made a face. Dally used to call him that when he wanted to annoy him, and it normally ended in a fight between the two.  
"Dallas taught you some bad habits." He said as he moved to hop up on the counter beside me, reaching over to grab my almost empty beer bottle. I tried to grab it back, but he held it up an out of my reach. I shook my head as he finished it off in a few shallows.  
"You haven't done anything to get rid of them." I said as I elbowed him in the side. He smirked and set the bottle down on the counter beside him, then leaned closer.  
"Why get rid of a good thing." He said as he kissed my cheek. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I pushed him away.  
"You can be very confusing sometimes." I said as I slid off the counter top and moved into the living room.  
"Maybe it's just you." Tim said as he followed me out of the room. He walked towards the door and stuffed his feet into his sneakers. "I gotta go get the guys together." I nodded as I sat down on the bottom step and closed my eyes, resting my head on my hand. "You feeling OK?" I opened my eyes and nodded.  
"Fine." I said as I yawned. "Just a little tired I guess." Tim gave me a look but just turned to the door and opened it.

"I'll be over to pick you up in a half hour or so, we can go a bit early." I nodded and stood up to go up the stairs once the door closed behind him. I needed to change into something better for the evening fight. It was too hot to wear jeans, but they were a good protection. I realized that I hadn't said no to weapons, so I figured that people would probably bring their blades and chains.

With a sigh I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. This was it, the end of the fighting. At least for me this was going to be the end. If it meant moving away for it to be over, then so be it, I wasn't going to deal with this any longer after tonight.

XXX

Half an hour later, Tim pulled into the yard, followed by three other cars. I stepped out onto the step and was going to close it behind myself when Liam caught it. He smirked when I turned to look at him.

"It's time for us to meet who we'll be fighting with tonight." He said and motioned for the other boys to come outside behind him. I shook my head, but walked over to where Tim was standing beside his car with his brother.

"Hiya, Mia." Curly said as I walked over. "How ya doin'?" I shrugged as I kept a watch on the boys from the corner of my eye as they talked with some of the boys from the Brumly Boys gang.

"Fine." I heard you just got out of reform school again." He smirked like he was proud of this and nodded his head. Curly wasn't the brightest kid I had ever met in my life. In fact, I was pretty sure he was one of the dumpiest kids I had ever met in my life.

"Why are the Brumly Boys here?" I asked Tim when Curly turned to talk with one of the boys from the other gang.

"This isn't all of them." Tim said. "I was just pulling out of the yard when they pulled up to the curb beside my house. They said they wanted to come early." I raised an eyebrow at this information, but didn't argue.

"And why is your brother here?" I asked and Tim shrugged.

"He thinks that I'm just going out to eat." He smirked. "We'll drop him off at the Dingo on our way by and I'll have Steven pick him up on his way to the school later tonight." I nodded and turned to see that the boys seemed to be getting along with the Brumly Boys.

"Well, we might as well get going now then." I said. "We want to be in position before anyone arrives. We can not be seen." The boys headed down the street for their cars as the Brumly Boys piled back into their own cars. "You guys wait for their cars and they'll tell you where to hide out once you get there." I told the boys driving the cars as I pointed in the direction Liam and the others had gone in. They nodded and I got in the passenger side of Tim's car before he turned around and we headed for the school.

Storm clouds were covering the sky as we arrived at the high school and parked in the parking lot to wait for the others. We'd dropped Curly off at the Dingo and it'd been very amusing to see his ace when Tim said that we would be at the high school, and that Steven was going to pick him up later.

"You nervous?" Tim asked as they other cars pulled into the yard. I smirked as I opened my door and swung my legs out.

"Me? Nervous? Ha! Never." Tim shook his head with a smirk on his face as we got out and met the large group of boys at the front of the vehicles. "You guys need to park your cars a few blocks down." I instructed as I pointed down the street. "Then walk to wherever you're supposed to be. Liam will help you boys divide up to the different look out spots we set up. All we're doing is watching for the parents to stop going inside and for the Socs to arrive." Everyone nodded and I took a deep breath. "OK, go. We'll have the fight at the front of the school." I pointed off to the side where a large area of law was flat. "Meet here once the Socs arrive." With a final nod, they all left to move their cars out of the parking lot and down the street. I turned to Tim.

"We need to move the car out of here." I said and Tim nodded.

"We could pull it around to the side where that big tree is." He said as we pulled around to the side of the school.

"That's great." I said. "We can sit here and watch the parents coming to the front door. Plus we have a perfect view of the street for when the Socs start to show up." Tim backed the car up under the tall oak tree that had been on the side of the school for a long time. The drooping branches hid the car from view, unless you were specifically looking for it.

"And now," I said as I kicked off my shoes and propped my feet up on the dashboard. "We wait. My least favourite part of a stakeout, the waiting part." Tim smirked and leaned back in his own seat and we watched in silence as the sky got darker and darker, and the storm clouds moved in.

"Looks like it's going to be some storm." Tim said, startling the silence away. I nodded and watched as a car pulled into the school yard and parked across from where the car was. I watched as a couple got out and headed up to the school doors.

"That's the principle and his wife." Tim said and I sat up straighter in my seat. "They must be here to open the doors." I nodded in agreement, just as two police cars pulled into the yard and parked beside the principle's car, followed by two NYPD squad cars.

"Well," I said as I leaned back in my seat. "Looks like the night is just getting started."

A half hour later, some parents were still pulling into the yard, and I huffed as I propped my arm up on the window ledge.

"This is taking forever." I complained.

"Your fault for wanting to be here so early." Tim said beside me, and I turned to look at him. He was messing with his lighter and looked bored out of his mind. I took a deep breath and sat up in my seat. I had to tell him now; it'd been on my mind for a while now, and this was as good a time as any.

"When the cops show up," I said, referring to the cops that weren't here that would end up being called to come break up the fight. "I want you to take your gang and run." Tim's attention was pulled away from the lighter and in the dark that was being cast by the tree; I could see that his eyes were narrow slits as he looked at me.

"Play that by me again." He said as he set the lighter down on the dashboard.

"I said that I want you to take your gang and run when the cops show up. " I repeated. "You don't need to get caught for this, and I'd much prefer if you didn't."

"That is the worst excuse I've ever heard for anything in my whole life." Tim snapped. "What's the big deal with getting caught?"

"If you get caught in this too, they'll know that you knew I was housing the guys at Buck's." I snapped back. "Do you know the kind of trouble you could get in for that?"

"Same trouble as you!"

"Yea, but I'll just get put in a juvenile detention centre. You're 18, that's serious jail time."

"Nothing I haven't done before."

"Please, Tim." I begged. I hated to resort to begging, but he didn't leave me much choice. I didn't want the cops picking him up tonight because they'd slap harbouring fugitive charges on him and would lock him up in jail for a much longer time period then what I was going to get. He would be out by the time I got back home after serving my time in New York.

Tim looked at me for a long time before letting out a sigh and mumbling something under his breath.

"Fine." He growled out. "But this is going to look bad. Running from the cops after a fight; and when they ask me why, saying 'my girlfriend asked me too' is going to look like one damn awful response." I shrugged like it was his problem to figure out a good response, just as there was a knock on my window. I turned to see Liam leaning down against the car. I opened the window and he leaned down to look in.

"There hasn't been anyone pull in for the past 5 minutes." He said. "I think everyone has arrived. Can we start to lock up the school now?" I nodded and closed the window once Liam was gone.

"Guess this is it." Tim said as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "Want one?" I nodded and took the one he offered me and leaned over so he could light it for me.

"Yup," I said as I exhaled and opened the door. "Time to party like it's 1959." Tim chuckled as we both closed our doors and headed for the front of the school. But as we were walking around the front of the car, Tim grabbed my wrist and I turned around. His lips met mine for a brief moment before he pulled back, a smirk on his face.

"Kiss for good luck." He said as we continued around the school.

"I think you're gonna be fine." I said as I stubbed out my cigarette in the wall of the school when we passed by.

"Who said it was good luck for me?" Tim asked as we arrived at the front of the school and leaned back against the wall while we waited for the boys to finish locking it up. "You're the one who needs the luck with the way things have been going so far.' I was about to open my mouth and protest when three more cars pulled into the yard. Tim and I sunk back into the shadows of at the corner of the building so that we wouldn't be seen. But then I recognized the leader of the River Kings gang and stepped out. He saw me and smirked as he walked over, followed by a few other members of his gang while the rest hung back at the cars.

"Heard about the fight." He said as we shook hands. "Thought we might come and have some fun." I smirked and took a step back so that I was standing beside Tim.

"The more of us there are, the better our chances of finishing the Socs off once and for all." I said, just as Liam and the boys came jogging around the side of the building.

"All finished." He said. "No one heard a thing while we locked up, so they have no idea." I nodded and was about to say something else when I saw a line of cars coming up the street. "They're here." I said instead, and everyone turned to watch as the cars pulled into the yard.  
We were already on the grass, and everyone spread out on either side of me. Tim was standing to my left and from the corner of my eye, I saw him watching me. I gave him a half smile which he returned with a smirk before we turned back to watch the large group of boys step out of the mustangs.  
"They look ready for a party, not a fight." Justin said from where he was standing on my right.  
"That's normal." I said back without taking my eyes off the Socs. "They're all ready for the beer blast that they plan to have after this is all over." I saw Justin shake his head as one of the Socs stepped up in front of me. He was quite a bit taller then I was, and cast a shadow over me from the streetlight behind him. I stood up as straight as I could as he looked down at me with hatred gleaming in his eyes. I knew from the feeling bubbling in my stomach that mine were as red as his were.

"So, Baker." He said as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. "You're the one who's been wreaking our houses." I shrugged. If I said anything, they'd find some way to use it against me. Not like I had a lot to loss at this point, but why satisfy them with more reason to have me put in jail for longer then I really wanted.

"You boys don't look like you're really ready for a fight." I said. "I'm surprised you're not afraid to get your good clothes dirty."

"This won't take long." The Soc said, and I smirked.

"You're right." I said as I cracked my knuckles. "It'll only be a few minutes before you guys go running to your cars crying for your mommy's."

"Why you little-" His fist started to come up for a punch, but I beat him to it and got him in the jaw. Normally Darry was the one to start the fights, but it was my turn to be in charge, and I was taking full advantage of it.

Everyone seemed to spread out across the grass as fists were thrown back and forth, some people ended up on the ground and were getting kicks to the stomach. But my main focus was on the guy in front of me. He wasn't a bad fighter, but his swings were too wide and left him open for me to knock him in the side, sending him stumbling back. I was about to kick him in the shoulder while he was bent over, but he pulled out a switchblade and I stopped myself. He looked up at me with an evil gleam in his eyes that clearly stated he wasn't going to be beat by a girl.

"No one said anything against weapons." He said and stood back up straight. I narrowed my eyes and put my hands on my hips like I was debating what I was supposed to do now that a weapon was involved.

"No," I said finally, like I was only just cluing into this. "No one did say anything against weapons." He came at me fast, the knife high in the air like someone who'd hold a spear. I ducked out of the way and turned back around to face him when he went by me, grabbing my own switchblade out of my pocket and flicking it open. He starred at it, then at me like he hadn't been expecting me to have my own weapon. "So I thought I'd come prepared for someone to bring their own." He growled and came at me again, but this time when he went by, I side stepped and kicked my leg up to hit the middle of his back, sending him sprawling to the grass.

I only noticed now that ran was starting to fall down over the ground, soaking it to make it slippery. I heard thunder off in the distance and a bolt of lightening. This was turning out to be a little more dangerous then I had originally though it would. But as I looked around, no one seemed too bothered by the weather. I saw Liam knock his fist against some guys head as another one came up behind him and tackled him to the ground. Tim was fighting it out with some other Soc who'd brought out a switchblade, and he was easily avoiding the guy's clumsy aims to stab him in the side.

I turned back to the guy I was fighting, just in time to seem him get up off the ground and start at me again. Though now he was bent over from the pain that was probably going through his back from my kick. I managed to move to the side, but lost my footing on the wet grass and slid to the ground. The guy stood over me before dropping to sit on my stomach. I felt the air being crushed out of my lungs and fought for breath.

"I'm gonna kill you, chick." He said with a sneer on his face. "You won't be around much longer to cause any more trouble. You and that messed up boyfriend of yours can go cause all the trouble you want in hell." I tried to twist myself out from underneath him, or at least unbalance him so I could move enough to get out, but he was strong and didn't budge.

I was about to resign myself to my fate and closed my eyes, when the weight was suddenly gone and I heard a heavy thud off to my right. I opened my eyes to see that Tim had seen me in trouble and had tackled the guy off me. He was now punching the guy in the face and I heard a crack, knowing that Tim had just broken the guy's nose.

Once I had air back in my lungs, I stood up and went over to Tim who was still punching the guy. I grabbed his arm when it came up for another swing and stopped him. Tim turned to look at me, and seemed relieved that I was back on my feet.

"I'd suggest stopping before you kill him." I said, and from the looks of the guy, he was in pretty rough shape at this point.

"Yea, well." Tim said as he stood up off the Soc and left him lying there. "It's what he deserves. He looked about ready to kill you." I smirked as a group of Socs charged at the two of us and we found ourselves surrounded.

"He threatened to kill me." I said as I swung a punch at the first Soc that came at me. I barely grazed his cheek and instead he got me in the shoulder. I hissed when pain sparked up and I saw dots I front of my eyes. I shook my head and got back up for another shot at his chest.

Suddenly, gun shots rang out across the field, and everyone, Greasers and Socs, fell down on their stomachs, covering their heads. I heard screaming and looked towards the school door to see that a large group of parents had gathered there.

"Loaded guns?!" I turned to the Soc I'd just been fighting starring at me with red hatred. "Why would you bring guns?! Let alone loaded ones!" I glared at him.

"Why do you automatically assume it was us?!" I snapped back. "I didn't bring any guns!" Though I was more speaking for myself alone. I didn't know what the other gangs rules were about how severe their weapons could be during a fight. I wouldn't put it past Liam and those guys to have guns on them during fights encase things got ugly. But this was a small town, not the big city. This had been organized, and meant to put the Socs in their place, not kill them.

The sound of sirens broke through the air and drifted into my thoughts about who would have the gun. I turned around to see Tim lying on his stomach a little ways away and from the look in his eyes; he knew what I was thinking. He started to shake his head, but I glared at him, clearly saying that he'd promised.

A second after what the sound of sirens meant if they got caught sunk into everyone's mind, everyone was up off the ground and scattering around to get away from the field. Some people ran for their cars, while others took off on foot in every direction. I stood for a moment in the chaos, spinning around looking for Liam, or one of the guys. A hand fell on my shoulder, and I turned to see Tim standing behind me.

"What are you doing?!" I asked. "You're supposed to be getting out of here." He shook his head.

"Not until I know that you're gonna be fine running from the cops on your own." I opened my mouth to say that I was going to be fine, when the red and blue flashing lights sped into the parking lot and headed straight towards the grass field where we were standing.

"Forget about me." I said. I pulled the ring off my finger and pressed it into his hand. He starred at it before looking at me, his mouth open. "GO!" I shouted as I shoved him towards where we'd parked the car. I took off in the opposite direction, only looking back once to see him watching me before he ran towards his car. I almost felt like crying, but squashed it as I pumped my arms as fast as I could to propel myself forward. There were too many kids for the police to track down all of them. What were the chances that I'd get targeted as one they would chase after? Probably high, considering I was the only girl to be fighting and they were after me for everything that had been going on lately anyway.

"Stop running!" I could hear Officer Brian's over call through the speaker that sat on top of the police car. "It's no use. Stop running." But I didn't stop; I kept running until I came to the football field at the very back of the school. I felt my legs turning to lead, and my arms flopped down at my sides. I tried to run a few more steps, but all I got was a half step before I was being tackled to the ground. My arms were pulled roughly back and the feeling of cold metal surrounded my wrists.

"It's over, Baker." Officer Brian said as he hauled me to my feet and jerked me towards the cop car. I stumbled a few steps before pulling myself up to walk straight. Officer Brian shoved me against the side of the car before doing a searched for any kind of weapons, and he stood up beside me a second later with my switchblade in his hand.

"Always did carry this around with you." He said as he grabbed the chain linking the handcuffs together and pulled me back away from the car. He opened the door and ducked me down into the backseat. I closed my eyes and sighed as I rested my head back against the seat. I turned to look out the window and my eyes widened when I caught sight of Tim standing in the shadows of the bleachers, watching. I continued to star at him as Officer Brian turned the car back on and took off across the grass, back towards the parking lot to meet up with the other cops.

I found myself starring down at my shoes as he got out and talked with another officer before getting back in. He started back towards the police station, and was quiet for a long time before he spoke.

"I would have honestly thought better of you, Baker." He said, and sounded like he really meant it. "I watched you grow up in New York, and it always seemed like you could do so much more with your life." I blocked him out and looked out the window. A feeling of dread and pain sat in my stomach, and I struggled with myself to find out why I felt that way. The pain was probably from the punches I took to the stomach, but I didn't understand the dread. Wasn't this what I wanted? The Socs weren't going to bother us again. They wouldn't dare after their parents had witnessed the violence they used. I'm sure a lot of them were going to end up grounded, though others would probably sell it off as it was all our fault. Which in truth it was, but I'm sure the story would sale well with all parents. They couldn't all be that stupid.

"You could do better then this, Mia." I turned back to look at Officer Brian through the rear view mirror.

"Probably could." I said simply, and shut my mouth tight after that. I wasn't going to play into his game. He wasn't going to get me talking about anything, no matter how hard he tried to play the good cop. I knew from the past that he wasn't, I'd already learned from that mistake once. I was just going to keep my mouth shut, and take whatever punishment they gave to me without so much as batting an eye.

XXX

Three days after the fight, I was finally told what I was going to get for a punishment. 6 months in the New York detention centre, no probation time, no bail. So I was stuck in a New York youth detention center for 6 months on creating a public disturbance and for harbouring fugitives. I would be leaving for New York the next day with the rest of the boys. There weren't enough cop cars to fit all of us, so they were bringing down a prison bus to take us back.

I sighed as I leaned back against the wall of the cell that I'd been placed in until everything was in order for them to be able to ship us off to New York. I knew I should get as much sleep as I could here, because one I got to the detention center, sleep was going to be hard to come by. At least good, quality sleep was going to be hard to come by once I got there.

I closed my eyes and tired to catch a few hours of sleep before the bus showed up and I was taken away from the one place I'd always thought I'd call home.

XXX

"Wake up, Baker." I slowly opened my eyes to see Officer Brian standing on the other side of the bars. "Bus is going to be here in a minute. Time to get up and get going." I starred at him until he left before turning my gaze to the ceiling. This was it, I had known from the moment I went back to New York to talk to the boys that I was going to end up in prison for something related to what I'd been doing. But only know did I realize how badly I wish it wasn't happening.

Another officer came to the door of the cell and opened it, handing me a tray of food before stepping out again. I devoured the meal quickly, and then dropped the tray onto the cot when Officer Brian came back to the cell door. He opened it and I stepped through, stopping so he could put the handcuffs back on me. Not like I was going to run away as soon as I stepped out the doors of the police station, but I knew the process.

As the doors opened, I blinked at the brightness of the sunlight and looked around. There were two buses sitting in the parking lot of the station, one had New York marked on it, while the other had the name of the detention center in Oklahoma City. I was surprised by the number of parents that were standing in the yard. I guess more kids then I thought had been caught running away. I saw Darry and the guys standing close to the front of the crowd, and Soda was the first to start to push through.

I was suddenly engulfed in a tight hug, and then smothered as the rest of the boys came forward. I sighed and leaned against Soda, who was the closest and breathed through the drive to cry.

"We're gonna miss you, Mia." Soda said as he pulled back. I smiled a little and would have given his shoulder a light shove if it wasn't for the fact that my hands were being held behind my back.

"Don't worry about me." I said. "I'll be fine. Not like I haven't been into the detention center before." They all gave me lopsided smiles before Darry stepped forward and gave me another hug.

"Call when you get out and we'll figure out a way to get you home." He said as he stepped back. I nodded before Brian shoved me towards the door of the New York bus. The other boys had already been put on, and I could see them watching me through the window.

"Hold up." I turned to see Tim walking around the front of the bus. Officer Brian sighed in frustration, but stopped just before he was about to shove me up the steps.

"Make this quick, kid." He said angrily. Tim gave him a look over and shrugged before turning to me. He starred at me before he took something out of his pocket and put it around my neck. I looked down to see the ring dangling from the end of the silver chain.

"Tim-" I started, but he cut me off.

"Keep it safe." He said. "I don't know the value of it, but I'm guessing someone would be willing to steal it for a couple bucks." I looked up at him for a moment before I leaned against his chest. His arms wrapped around me and I felt him kiss the top of my head. "Be careful." He said softly as he pulled back and gave me a kiss. I smirked as Officer Brian started to shove me the rest of the way to the door of the bus.

"You know I'm always careful." I said before stepping onto the first step, and into the bus. The doors closed behind us as Officer Brian unlocked the handcuffs and pushed me into the section of the bus that was gated off from the first few seat and where the driver sat.

I nodded at each boy as I walked past him to the very back seat. I slumped down into the seat by the window and leaned my head against it. The bus started up and I watched as it pulled away from the sidewalk and started in the direction of the highway. I waved at the boys as they passed by the window, and pressed my hand against the glass as Tim passed by. He smirked and nodded his head at me, before he turned and started walking towards our side of town.

I watched him go for a minute before I turned and starred out the bus window in front of me. I was starting to realize just how badly I didn't ant this. I had reasons for not being in New York, and to be taken back for 6 months might not be a good thing. But I had no choice at all; I'd just have to deal with my past problems when they surfaced.

I must have managed to fall asleep on the drive, because I felt a hand on my shoulder, shaking me away.

"Come on, Baker." An officer was saying as I opened my eyes. "Time to go to your new home for the next 6 months." I stood up and the officer left me in front of him so he could lock another set of handcuffs around my wrist. He then shoved me down the isle of the bus and out the door. I starred up at the stone building that loomed like a ghostly castle in front of me. It hadn't changed since I'd last been here, and the thought shook me up a bit. All I could hope was that the outside was the only thing that hadn't changed. If it was the same on the inside too, these 6 months were going to be like 6 months in hell.

With a final breath of the fresh air, my last taste of freedom, I was shoved into the building. It was like I was hit with a wall of memories as I walked through the doors and they closed behind me. I remembered every reason I'd ever been pushed into this building, and I remembered everyone who'd made me who I was today. I remember all the hardship, and all the violence I'd witnessed while enclosed in these concrete walls. And I realized, for the first time in my life, my whole life, that no matter where I went or what I did, no place was ever going to feel safe for me. There was no such thing as a safe place in my life. There was no safe place.

_No, life aint always beautiful  
Tears will fall sometimes  
Life aint always beautiful  
But it's a beautiful ride  
Life aint always beautiful  
Some days I miss your smile  
I get tired of walkin all these lonely miles  
And I wish for just one minute  
I could see your pretty face  
Guess I can dream, but life don't work that way  
But the struggles make you stronger  
And the changes make you wise  
And happiness has its own way of takin it's sweet time  
No, life aint always beautiful  
But I know i'll be fine  
Hey, life aint always beautiful  
But it's a beautiful ride  
What a beautiful ride_

XXX

Well… There ya go folks, all done. Wow… All done. Feels kind of weird to know that I won't have to worry about writing any more chapters for this anymore. It's been a big part of my free time, and I'm really proud of it. That chapter was also the longest one yet. 14 pages on Word.

Now, for the thank-yous. First off, I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has been reading this story from the very beginning. If it wasn't for you and the feedback I got, this story probably wouldn't exist, because I would have given up on it. Thanks to everyone in general who has been reading this, not just from the beginning, I really appreciate you people who have come into the story in the middle of it and stuck with me through it. All the late updates, and no updates for weeks upon weeks, and 'I promise to update soon' only to not update at all. As well as the writer's blocks. It means a lot to me that you've all stuck it out with me through this whole thing. Also a thank you to my friends that encouraged me to keep writing all the time.

I'm really thankful to everyone who has had any part in this story (reading or otherwise), and I hope that everyone continues to read my stories and enjoy them.

Oh I almost forgot. Sorry if some of the information in this story wasn't correct, like the jail time and stuff related to that. I'm not involved in any kind of law related stuff, so I know that it probably isn't as accurate as it probably should be.

On a final note, I do have a plan for a sequel to this story. But I have no idea when, or even if, I'll actually get around to writing it. I hope I will, but just in case, don't get your hopes up for anything major like this story was.

So, for now that's it. I'm going away for a little while so I won't be around to post anything new. But when I get back, I hope to have a few one shots written up to post.

~Stay Gold!


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